The Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited and the Nigeria Content Development and Management Board (NCDMB) have set aside over $3million for the rebuilding and equipping of the Government Technical College, Port Harcourt.
The rehabilitation, according to them, would include building a new Information and Communication Technology Centre, all four workshops and the general upgrade of facilities in the college.
The General Manager, Nigerian Content at Renaissance Africa Energy, Olaruwanju Olawuyi, made the disclosure at a stakeholders’ engagement on strengthening technical education for sustainable development held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Olawuyi said the development followed a directive from the NCDMB, which regulate local content activities in the oil and gas industry.
He said the strategic meeting was designed to get the buy-in of stakeholders on the project in the areas of its sustainability and protection of the facility when completed to achieve a shared ownership, adding that work including rebuilding of the perimeter fencing of the school had begun.
He said: “Renaissance and NCDMB are working on a project at the Government Technical College Port Harcourt. It is an upgrade project. We are doing three things..
“NCDB oversees all our activities in the oil and gas industries. So the NCDMB has directed Renaissance as part of the Human Capacity Development initiative to undertake this work. That’s how we got involved.
“The first thing is that we’re upgrading the facilities as you will be able to tell. We are taking out all the rundown facilities, the ICT center, the four workshops. We’re taking them out and we’re building new ones. We are equipping it.
“Equipping it means that we are putting the latest versions of these things and new ones into that place, both in terms of the ICT center and the four workshops. Number three is that we are making it sustainable.”
While saying that the teachers would also be retrained, Olawuyi said: “We are scaling up the students, and we are making sure that the facility itself, we want to set them up for success such that it becomes more self-generating financially and it can run itself.”
In his remarks, Director of Capacity Building, NCDMB, Abayomi Bamidele, said aside regulation the board emphasised on development and professionalism.
Bamidele said: “So we’re not just a regulator in the oil and gas industry to make sure people do things right. We are also about development. And when it comes to that development, there are like three elements we need to look out for:
“These are the people, the assets, and the goods we produce in the country. So our role, some other people call us local content. So we must make sure that we use everything we produce here, we utilize any of the people in employment and jobs, and also anybody that has any assets.”
“Are you able to look at it quickly to make sure that the right type of training, I mean, education is done, so that by the time you graduate, nobody will be arguing whether you should get a job or not”.
He added: “And that is why we’re focusing on universities, we are focusing on the professional education, we’re also focusing on secondary and primary school. In fact, just last year, we launched ‘Back to Greek’, which was about or focused on primary and secondary education”.
He said that the stakeholders’ engagement was important to rob minds, ‘take action and make sure that in a few months’ time, we can start and deliver quality education in Government Technical College.”
Chairman of Port Harcourt City Local Government Area, Allwell Ihunda, pledged the council’s support towards realizing the project.
Responding to some of the challenges raised by the partners, Ihunda promised that all illegal structures within the college will be removed within one week; even as he pledged further support to prevent any security breaches while the project is ongoing.
