NAPTIN Trains 36 Liberians on Power Sector Operations

The National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) has commenced the training of 36 electricity workers from the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) on power generation, distribution and transmission, as well as commercials.

The four-week programme, which is sponsored by West African Power Pool (WAPP) and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is aimed at boosting the manpower development of LEC and promoting West African countries’ integration on power sector.

Speaking at inauguration of the first batch of the trainees at NAPTIN’s Regional Training Centre at Ijora, Lagos, NAPTIN’s Acting Director General, Alhaji Ahmed Nagode, disclosed that WAPP would use the training programme to grow the technical skills of LEC personnel.

He said the trainees would deploy the acquired skills and knowledge to resolve their power challenges bedeviling the African nations.

Nagode said that the course was designed in three models with 18 personnel to be trained at NAPTIN Regional Training Centre in Lagos, while the other 18 personnel would be trained at Kanji Dam.

“The National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) and the West African Power Pool (WAPP) are coming together to help grow technical skills of personnel of Liberia Electricity Corporation in order to improve the skills of these personnel, who in turn, use their acquired knowledge to solve some of the power challenges bedeviling the African nations. Leveraging on the strength of one another through proper synergy has proven to be a catalyst for growth and development. World-class companies and institutions have at one time or another sought partnership with each other to grow,” Nagode explained.

He commended President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration on its power sector recovery plan, which sought to ensure incremental and uninterrupted power in Nigeria.

The NAPTIN boss said that the event could be perceived in a sense as part of its contributions in fulfilling the Medium-Term Sector Strategy (MTSS) objectives of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing.

“The West African Power Pool is a regional body of ECOWAS, which is made up of 29 power utilities of West African States.

“Its vision is to have a unified regional electricity market in West African through a national power system,’’ the NAPTIN boss added.

Explaining the training modules to journalists, NAPTIN’s Director of Training Programmes, Mr. Francis Elughi stated that the objective of the training is to improve their capacity on electricity generation, distribution and transmission network.

According to him, the training will also increase their capacity in effective power supply and revenue collection.

He identified the six courses under the programme to include: power transmission network and substation operations and maintenance; power distribution, maintenance and repairs; commercial (metering, sales, invoicing, customer relations and accounting); power generation and maintenance; power distribution, design and operations; and power system planning and environmental guide/protection.

Speaking on the experience of the trainees, one of the Liberian trainees, Mr Wahmah Viagoly, commended NAPTIN, adding that the power training would impact qualitative and quantitative knowledge on them.