200 Youths Graduate from Dangote Refinery’s Skills Acquisition Programme
About 200 youths from Ibeju-Lekki community in Lagos State have graduated from the various skills acquisition programme organised by Dangote Petroleum Refinery as a way of transforming society and providing employment opportunities for the youths.
The programme was put together by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and facilitated by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and the Nigerian Content Development and Management Board (NCDMB).
The skills acquisition programme, which cuts across a wide range of vocational skills such as plumbing, welding, iron bending, auto mechanics and electrical works, marked the successful completion of the first batch the trainees.
The programme marks another level of Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s intervention as it is targeted at providing vocational skills to the teeming youth population in its host communities.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony, Dangote Group Executive Director, Strategy, Capital Projects and Portfolio Development, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, said the initiative was a demonstration of Dangote Refinery’s commitment toward capacity-building and youth empowerment in the country.
Edwin said the programme was another level of Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s intervention targeted at providing vocational skills to the teeming youth population in its host communities. He said the programme was also aimed at making youth from its host communities employable.
He said the 200 youths from Ibeju-Lekki community in Lagos State graduated from various skills acquisition programmes put together by Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
He urged the graduands to be more focused and diligent in whatever they do and serve as frontier to others.
“With the tools given to you today, you can be good ambassadors of this great community. So many graduates outside are still searching for jobs, but yours is different because you have been trained.
“We are going to give you our maximum support to ensure you are employed in our operations, as our host communities remains our priority. These skills given to you today, can take you to various places and attract better opportunity if managed effectively,” he said.
Edwin advised the graduands to commit themselves to continuous learning and development as the business environment changes frequently, and promised to assist them to succeed.
According to him, as the petroleum refining & fertiliser complex comes on stream, it is expected that will be a population boom in the surrounding communities, who requires the services of the trainees.
He expressed optimism that the host communities will experience a turnaround in their fortunes very soon.
Also at the event, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State promised to employ the 200 youth of Ibeju-Lekki community who graduated from various skills acquisition programmes in the Lekki Free Trade Zone.
Sanwo-Olu, represented by the Managing Director of Lekki Free Trade Zone Worldwide, Dr. Tunde Sodade, said the governor was passionate about employing the youths through skilled vocational training.