The Ministry of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education (MSTTE) through one of training agencies, the National Energy Skills Center (NESC) has received the attention and endorsement of both the private and public sector of Nigeria. In December 2011, the NESC’s Campus at Point Lisas, welcomed one hundred (100) Nigerian nationals to its family of trainees under a landmark agreement signed with Qess Consulting Inc. (Qess) of Nigeria is a full-service human resource and training company under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Godfrey Paul.

Qess is one of the many private sector organisations working with the government of Nigeria under a special programme to provide accredited training to the youths of the oil producing Niger Delta. This initiative of the Nigerian government has the support of the High Commission of Nigeria in Trinidad and Tobago and has opened doors to the local post-secondary sector in our twin-island state - a country one hundred times smaller than the African giant. 

For the next six months, the Nigerian nationals will be trained in automotive service maintenance, heavy equipment operations and maintenance, shielded metal arc welding and millwright at the NESC. In just a few short weeks, word of the quality of training at the NESC has already made its way back to Nigeria. On January 16th 2012 a key official of the Nigerian Government,  Mr. Blesson Oborokumo, a man described as the ‘eyes and ears’ of the Honourable Kingsley Kemebradigha KuKu, Special Adviser to the President of Nigeria, paid a visit to the NESC to assess its facilities and overall training environment. His visit was the culmination of a week of discussions with NESC Chairman, Mr. Feeroz Khan, President Kern Dass and the management team of the NESC. Identifying suitable training providers is part of Mr. Oborokumo’s portfolio and required an assiduous search for and careful evaluation of potential training partners, an exercise which spanned some eighteen countries. Mr. Oborokumo was emphatic in his view that the NESC by far exceeds most of the institutions he has assessed across the globe. 

He noted that the message which he will take back to the Honourable Mr. Kuku upon his return to Nigeria is that the training of nationals of Nigeria at the NESC should be continued and expanded.

Present at the meeting at NESC’s headquarters in Couva were his Excellency Musa John Jen, High Commissioner to Nigeria and Senator the Honourable Fazal Karim, Minister of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education.   Both gentlemen expressed appreciation for the support and the role which the other has played in the partnership which is developing between Trinidad and Tobago and Nigeria.  His Excellency lauded the government of Trinidad and Tobago and explained what has led his government to select this country as a suitable training partner. In addition to the obvious climatic and cultural similarities, His Excellency cited the significance of Trinidad and Tobago’s over one hundred years of experience with oil and gas and declared that Nigeria was several decades behind Trinidad and Tobago in this respect. He was enthusiastic about the expansion of training of Nigerians in Trinidad and Tobago through the NESC and other agencies under MSTTE and noted that the training currently underway was just the beginning of a long and fruitful training partnership between the two countries. 

In his response to the High Commissioner, Minister Karim emphasized the commitment of his Ministry and the government of Trinidad and Tobago in assisting the government of Nigeria in the development of its human capital. He pointed out that in time to come the relationship between the two countries would become increasingly symbiotic with the potential for knowledge transfer and exchange arrangements. He stressed the importance of a sharing of cultures between the two nations citing this as being of equal importance to the practical skills which would be imparted in the workshops and classrooms.

Even as training continues at the NESC over the coming months, discussions and negotiations will be taking place with other training providers to meet the many needs of the Nigerian government in areas such as maritime skills, culinary skills, environmental management and rig operations. There is also the potential for ‘train-the-trainer’ instruction leading to the establishment of institutions similar to the NESC in Nigeria. All parties remain united in the resolve to advance the training partnership between the two countries and have every confidence that it will redound to other aspects of the economies of the two nations.