As part of the efforts towards bridging the manpower deficit in the manufacturing sector, Lafarge Africa, one of the giant cement manufacturing company in Nigeria has graduated a total of 51 Nigerian technicians trained under its capacity development initiative programme.
The 51 graduands, which comprised of young school leavers, were drawn from among the host communities of Sagamu and Ewekoro where Lafarge is operating.
Trained at company’s Technical and Industrial Training Institute located in Ewekoro area of Ogun state, the year 2019 batch of the graduates were, however, made to undergo a 36-months in conformity with the prerequisite knowledge for industrial operations, as well as National Business and Technical Education Board (NABTEB).
Speaking at the 2019 graduation ceremony held yesterday in Ewekoro, Head of the Human Resources and Industrial Relations, Femi Adekunle disclosed that the increasing manpower deficit noticeable in the manufacturing industry in the country necessitated the idea behind the training programme.
“It is an idea geared towards empowering science-oriented secondary school leavers in our host communities – first, to offer employment opportunities for them and second, to provide a platform for them to further their academics to the University level”.
In her comment, the company’s Director of Organization and Human Resources, Fidelia Osime said the technical apprentice programme was aimed at checkmating the undue influx of semi-skilled workers from neighbouring African countries who have taken over industrial operations in many manufacturing firms in Nigeria.
She further explained that the capacity development initiative was part of the company’s commitments towards empowering the young school leavers, as well as preparing them for possible admission into the Nigerian universities to further their studies.
“We have designed the Cement Professional Technician Programme (CPTP) and Technical Apprentice Programme to adequately train youths in the cement manufacturing process”.
“It is a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative hinged on five pillars: health, safety, education, infrastructure as well as a clean environment”.
“We believe that programmes like these will help to bridge the skills gap in the cement production industry”.
Speaking on behalf of the Federal Government, Stella Ogbuishi, Area Manager, Industrial Training Fund (ITF), said government would continue to support efforts such as these that are geared towards improving entrepreneurial skills and self-reliability of young Nigerians who remain the bedrock of any economy that desires growth and development.
Folusho Samuel, Director of Projects, Nigerian Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), celebrated the initiative, revealing that some of the trainees have already received provisional job offers from multinational companies. She pledged that NECA would continue to work with the private sector in order to ensure that all the graduating technicians are fully engaged.
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