The federal government has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening human capital development and institutional collaboration in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Patience Oyekunle, during a familiarisation and courtesy visit to the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) in Abuja on Monday, described the organisation as a strategic institution within Nigeria’s petroleum sector architecture.
According to her, the organisation’s mandate to develop indigenous human capacity for the oil and gas industry remains critical to the long-term sustainability, competitiveness and technological advancement of the sector.
She lauded the body for its contributions to manpower development through its Overseas and In-Country Scholarship Schemes, which have supported the training of thousands of Nigerian professionals in petroleum and energy-related disciplines over the past two decades.
The senior government official noted that many beneficiaries of the programmes now contribute meaningfully across Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, regulatory institutions, academia and research establishments, thereby strengthening the country’s technical competence and knowledge base in the sector.
Mrs Oyekunle further reiterated that the ministry remains committed to advancing sector reforms and the strategic priorities of the federal government.
She stressed that the ongoing transformation of Nigeria’s petroleum industry following the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) places renewed emphasis on efficiency, transparency, institutional effectiveness and the strengthening of indigenous technical capacity across the sector’s value chain.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Executive Secretary of PTDF, Mr Ahmed Galadima Aminu, reaffirmed the fund’s commitment to supporting the policy direction of the federal government and working closely with the ministry to further strengthen Nigeria’s petroleum industry.