Dangote refinery employs 11 ex-PTDF scholars

The management of Dangote Refinery has offered employment to 11 scholars that were trained by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF).

The engagement of the scholars was facilitated by PTDF under its Nigerian Content and Industry Collaboration Initiative.

Speaking on the employment in an interview on the latest edition of its magazine publication, PTDF Digest, the Head of Upstream Division of PTDF, Mr. Wariso Ibufubara, said the agency, on hearing Dangote Refinery was going to employ many Nigerians, approached the company to consider highly qualified graduates from the PTDF Overseas Scholarship Programme.

Mr. Ibufubara said, “Consequently, a number of CVs from past beneficiaries of PTDF scholarship programmes were forwarded for consideration. We did forward 67 CVs of students who have chemical engineering background and were sponsored by PTDF to study masters in refining technology, instrumentation, analytical sciences, etc.

“The feedback we got from Dangote is that they were all invited but only 35 showed up for interview. Out of the 35, 18 made it to the final stage. At that stage five of them were absent, leaving just about 13 for consideration from which 11 have been fully employed.”

He said the engagement of the scholars portends a very good image for the fund to the extent that it had not only trained Nigerians to qualify as graduates in different fields in the oil and gas industry, but went the extra mile to engage companies that were in the sector to utilise the trainees.

Commenting about the ex-scholars in an interview also published in the magazine, the Group Executive Director, Strategy, Portfolio Development and Capital Projects, Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, said, “I called for all the 67 CVs (of PTDF ex-scholars) and started going through them. In my 26 years in Nigeria, I have never seen a group of impressive CVs more than this collection.”

SOURCE: DailyTrust