Press Release
COREN and SPDC Nigeria Limited sign an MoU for the Registration and Certification of Shell Graduate Programme & Shell Advanced Technical Programme Graduates by COREN Abuja, 26th October 2020
– As part of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN’s mandate to support, grow and encourage the acquisition of professional skills geared towards the development of National proficiency base, COREN, on Monday, 26th October, 2020 signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of Nigeria Limited, the operator of the joint venture (SPDC JV) between the government-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (55%), SPDC (30%), Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (10%) and Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited (5%).
This MOU is for the registration and certification of the Shell Graduate Programme (SGP) and Shell Advanced Technical Programme (SATP) Graduates after rigorous training and hands-on experience in specialized areas. Under this agreement, COREN hopes to build its capacity to regulate the competency standards and skill acquisition in the Oil and Gas sector. The harnessing of engineering practitioners’ skills will facilitate and create new job areas like integrity tests for Engineering infrastructure and help to mitigate engineering failures. In accomplishing this, COREN commits to set up an internal structure/committee drawn from industry practitioners to supervise the process of building institutional capacity to manage the Registration and Certification Programmes.
The Registrar of COREN, Engr. Prof. Joseph O. Odigure, in his address, said: “As a regulatory body, we have to liaise and cooperate with every organization in Nigeria. We cannot act effectively today, if we do not develop an all-inclusive platform of engaging all stakeholders to build consensus in regulation. This is the prerequisite for market-driven engineering education, for job creation and sustainably in competencies growth. He stated that there is no alternative to guaranteeing the health and safety of our national infrastructure. What we are doing today, is very important particularly knowing that SPDC contributes substantially to the economic wealth of our nation. Ignoring their methodologies and techniques of training Engineers and the possibility of post-employment of those involved in these trainings is a big disservice to our Nation. We are beginning a process that will enhance considerably the engagement of the staff of SPDC during and after their service. We are committed to implementing the structure agreed upon”
Delivering remarks at COREN Headquarters in Abuja, the General Manager, Nigeria COG Projects SPDC Nigeria, Toyin Olagunju who was ably represented by Engr. Bashir Bello, General Manager, Business and Government Relations, SPDC emphasized that “We as a company are even double-excited that we have achieved this milestone today. SPDC as an oil and gas company is deeply involved in human capacity development. We pride ourselves in capacity building. So, when we had this opportunity to structure some of our internal programmes for the development of Engineers through our SGP & SATP in a way that will receive COREN recognition and certification, we made the most of it.
We will consider other areas beyond the SGP and SATP, to support COREN and the nation in general, to facilitate human capacity development in the engineering profession as there is hardly any branch of engineering that we do not get involved in. We truly believe that this is an opportunity to expose young Nigerian Engineers.” The SPDC Graduate Programme (SGP) offers formal training that enhances the careers of young engineers and is applicable to all entry-level engineering graduates in Shell Companies in Nigeria (SCiN). Key elements of the SGP include; (i) On the Job Learning via job tasks, Formal Learning, Self-Study, Structured Coaching and close supervision, Rotation, and Regular progress reviews.
The duration of the SGP is 2 – 3 years depending on competence at entry. On completion of the SGP, trainee engineers are enrolled in the SPDC Advanced Technical Programme (SATP). The SATP is a structured development programme for Shell graduates and experienced technical professional hires. Key elements of the SATP include; (i) On the Job Learning via job tasks, Formal Learning, Self-Study, Structured Coaching and close supervision, Rotations, and Regular progress reviews. The goal of the SATP is to shorten time-to-autonomy thereby strengthening staff with the engineering skills they need to perform a job largely on their own. New Experienced hires join the full programme or take modules depending on individual competence levels.
The duration of the SATP is 2years+. For further information/enquiries, please contact Head, Professional Proficiency Development and Certification Unit of COREN, Engr. Onuoha, Precious (onuohaprecious1@gmail.com) on +234(0) 806 742 2582.
