Niger Delta

Engage in research to tackle Africa’s challenges, PTI boss urges

With an estimated 125 billion barrels of crude reserves and over 600tcf of gas reserves in Africa, the Principal and Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Dr. Henry Adebowale Adimula, has called on oil and gas institutes to engage in research that will tackle Africa’s challenges, especially poverty. Dr Adimula made the call during a World Press Conference to mark the institute’s 50th anniversary which was held at PTI Council Chamber in Effurun, Delta State on Friday last week.

In attendance were principal officers of the institute, including Director of Energy Centre, Dr. Michael Adeniji; Registrar, Mr. Onobrorhie Siakpere; Acting Director of Library and Information Technology, Mrs Abigail Oghene; Director of Finance and Accounts, Mr. Gordon Akpoduado; Director of Science, Dr. Bamidele Oyetunde; Technical Assistant to the Principal, Mr. Isaac Akorede; Deputy Director, Academics, Mrs Florence Jobo and PTI Legal Officer, Anderlin, among others.

Adimula disclosed that PTI has graduated no fewer than 50, 000 technologists, technicians and other technical personnel in various areas of oil and gas and allied industries.

Hinting that PTI has decided to focus on research in key areas to develop local content capacity in oil and gas technology in Nigeria, Adimula urged other similar institutes on the continent to follow the lead to stamp out poverty.

Adimula urged Africans not to hasten in abandoning fossil fuels, but to engender more research and expand local technologies to meet the high global demand for the element.

“The Institute intends to focus research in this key area to develop local content capacity in oil technology to enable our country to achieve some independence in the design and production of technology for the oil industry.

“This endeavour is more critical since the foreign expertise we solely rely on for our oil and gas potential has developed a sudden apathy for the exploitation of the hydrocarbons in the wake of the allurement of the energy transmission.

“This serves as a wake-up call for our indigenous Institutes to engage in research in order to develop local production technology in the oil and gas industry to address Africa’s perennial challenges of poverty and energy shortages.

“It is our considered opinion that Africa should not hasten to abandon fossil fuel but should strive to deepen research and development of local technologies that enable the exploitation and beneficiation of our oil and gas endowment in a more environmentally friendly-manner as the reality of global demand for fossil fuel is expected to linger for the next 50 years.

“Today, we are confronted with the grim reality that only a few African countries have been able to master a certain aspect of oil production technology yet none can research, design and fabricate key machinery for the industry.

“This endeavour is all the more critical since the foreign expertise we solely rely on for our oil and gas potential have developed a sudden apathy for the exploitation of the hydrocarbons in the wake of the allurement of the energy transmission,” he said.

Highlighting the institute’s achievements over the last five decades, Adimula said the institute is fully engaged in the manpower development for deep offshore diving and deep offshore operations through the brace of specialised courses in underwater operations, among other things.

Meanwhile, the PTI’s 50th anniversary begins October 13, with a one-day conference/award night at the PTDF complex in Abuja, continuing from October 21 and culminating in the institute’s convocation ceremony on October 29.

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