In an unprecedented move, Schlumberger Technologies of France, at the
weekend, offered automatic employment to most of the 29 delegates of the
Presidential Amnesty Programme that successfully completed a 12-month
specialised course in Oil Drilling at the base of the company in Melun,
France.
At the formal graduation event of the 29 Niger Delta youths in France on
Saturday, the Business Manager for Europe and Africa of Schlumberger/NEXT,
Mr. Pierre Bihan, said the firm decided to retain the Nigerian youths in
their employ following their brilliant showing in all the courses they
undertook over the one-year period their training lasted.
“It is true that we have been training students from several countries of
the world but I must confess that these Nigerian students are exceptional.
Their level of discipline is very high. Their ability to cope under
immense pressure is second to none and, more important, their good showing
in both theory and practice is irresistible. Schlumberger has decided to
employ most of them for their facilities in Nigeria.
“They have gone through the best training possible in drilling engineering
and it is our hope that they will now put to practical use what they have
been taught in oil drilling,” Mr. Bihan said, adding that all the external
assessors of the delegates scored them very high.
At the event, a visibly elated Special Adviser to the President on Niger
Delta, Hon. Kingsley Kuku, lauded the trainees for being true ambassadors
of Nigeria by excelling beyond the expectation of even their trainers.
“I am the happiest man on earth today. Our efforts have been bountifully
rewarded. I am grateful to God Almighty that 29 of them have not just
graduated in oil and gas drilling but they have been acclaimed as the best
set of trainees this globally revered Schlumberger facility in Melun,
France, has produced. On behalf of our President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan,
who made this training possible, I want to thank the trainees for making
us proud,” the Special Adviser said.
Kuku praised Schlumberger for offering to employ most of the graduates.
“This is what we call practical support. Schlumberger has shown today that
it is a true friend of Nigeria. Schlumberger has also shown that reward
abound at all times for excellence. Our delegates came here and excelled
and you have not shied away from saying that they are the best you have
trained. You went further to offer to employ most of them. Nigeria is
grateful to you. We shall continue to collaborate with Schlumberger and
NEXT,” Kuku enthused at the well-attended graduation event.
The Special Adviser disclosed at the event that his office and
Schlumberger will collaborate later this month to organise a job fair for
the delegates in Nigeria where all the oil and gas companies operating in
Nigeria would be offered the opportunity of snapping up the remainder of
the graduates.
“With the first class training you have received, you have become hot
cakes in the industry. But we are not going to sit back and wait. We have
decided to bring potential employers to meet all of you in Lagos this
month,” Kuku told the graduates.
At the event, the Chairman of Schlumberger Africa, Mr. Shola Oyinlola, and
the Head of Schlumberger West Africa, Engr. Eke Eke, both commended the
delegates for making Nigeria proud.
“I have personally gone through the commendation notes from the assessors
of the Nigerian trainees and I was very impressed. I commend the Federal
Government of Nigeria for getting this one right. This is what government
everywhere in the world must do: build capacity. I challenge the graduates
to quickly begin to reap from the benefits of divestment of a number of
oil and gas multinationals from Nigeria’s downstream sector. It is your
country and you now have the requisite training; you are now truly
prepared to fly,” Mr. Oyinlola counseled the graduates.
In the same vein, Engr. Eke explained that the Nigerian graduates stand
very good chance of being employed given that their training duration of
one year is the longest ever he could recall, which he said is a very good
thing.
“You have trained here, the acclaimed university of oil and gas, for one
year. This, on its own, is amazing. It does not happen often. Most
employers anywhere in the world will be glad to hire you. So make good the
opportunity your training has afforded you. You now have all that it takes
to even rise to become the Managing Director of Schlumberger,” Eke
admonished the graduates.
The graduates also received high commendations from the Nigerian
Ambassador to France, who was represented by a Minister in the Embassy,
Mr. Alani Bello, and the representative of the French Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, who pledged continued support of the French Government for the
training programmes of the Office of the Special Adviser to the President
on Niger Delta in France.
In their remark, the delegates who spoke through their team leader, Oba
Asime Charles, thanked Hon. Kuku and President Jonathan for offering them
the opportunity to benefit from the first class training at the
Schlumberger facility in France.
“We have become living evidences of the transformation agenda of President
Goodluck Jonathan,” the excited team leader said.
Schlumberger is the world’s leading supplier of technology, integrated
project management and information solutions to customers working in the
oil and gas industry worldwide. Employing approximately 120,000 people
representing over 140 nationalities and working in more than 85 countries,
Schlumberger provides the industry’s widest range of products and services
from exploration through production.
Schlumberger partners with NEXT to deliver complete oil and gas training
and career development solutions for organizations and professionals
worldwide.
NEXT has access to well-equipped, global Schlumberger training centers
and technical facilities, where participants gain practical, hands-on
experiences. These facilities run multidisciplinary theory and practical
training programs, which encompass classrooms, practical workshops,
discipline-special simulators of field operations including but not
limited to a mock up drilling rig, mock-up training wells for cased and
open hole logging, production stimulation pads, cementing pads and
completion pads.