Forty young men and women from Bonny Island in Rivers State have completed an intensive six-month offshore welding and pipe-fitting training programme funded by an international oil company operating in the Bonny export terminal, in what community leaders are describing as the most directly impactful skills programme the company has delivered to the host community in 20 years.
The trainees, all aged between 19 and 28 and selected through a community-based process that prioritised candidates from the poorest households, have been certified to international oil industry standards by the Welding Institute (TWI) and are now eligible for employment on offshore platforms across Nigeria and in international oil and gas operations.
Community Development Committee Chairman Chief Fyneface Tombrotol said: For too long, the oil companies operating in our waters have brought in workers from outside while our children have no jobs. This programme is a small but meaningful step in the right direction.
The oil company said it planned to expand the programme to cover 200 trainees per year over the next five years and was in discussions with two other operating companies in the Bonny area to create a shared training facility that could serve the broader host community talent pool.
Labour economists note that offshore welders with international certification can earn between 5 million and 12 million naira per year on contract -- transformative incomes for communities where average household income rarely exceeds 1 million naira annually.
