EFFURUN/Nigeria: Ghana is seeking technical assistance from Nigeria’s Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun, as it explores ways to establish a centre of excellence for petroleum training and strengthen the skills base of its oil and gas industry.
The initiative came into focus on Tuesday when a delegation from Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority (NPA) visited the institute in Delta State to explore areas of collaboration in technical education, research, consultancy and workforce development.
Receiving the delegation at PTI’s Council Chambers on behalf of the Principal and Chief Executive, Engr. Dr Samuel E. Onoji, the Director of Research and Development, Dr Tina Isichei, expressed the institute’s readiness to support Ghana’s capacity-building ambitions through its decades of experience in petroleum manpower development.
Isichei described the visit as an opportunity to deepen cooperation between African countries and strengthen the region’s capacity to develop the technical expertise required by the petroleum industry.
Established in 1972, PTI was created to develop the skilled workforce needed to support Nigeria’s growing petroleum industry. Isichei said the institute had trained more than 50,000 personnel who now contribute to the sector in Nigeria and other countries.
“PTI is ready and glad to be of help to the Ghana National Petroleum Authority in every conceivable way, having gathered the expertise over the 54 years of the institute’s existence,” she said.
She attributed the institute’s reputation to four pillars: expertise, experience, exclusivity and effectiveness, explaining that practical, hands-on instruction remained central to its training approach.
According to her, PTI combines a curriculum certified by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) with specialised facilities and experienced instructors to prepare personnel for different technical demands across the petroleum industry.
She identified welding and fabrication, drilling and well control, National Skills Qualification (NSQ) certification, the Skills Development Academy, firefighting, underwater welding and research as some of the institute’s areas of specialisation.
Isichei also invited the Ghanaian officials to participate in PTI’s Annual International Conference on Hydrocarbon Science and Technology, an initiative that has promoted knowledge exchange and manpower development since 2023.
She assured the delegation of access to a guided tour of the institute’s facilities to enable its members to assess the practical training infrastructure available at PTI.
Responding, the leader of the delegation and Director of Research at Ghana’s NPA, Dr Joseph Wilson, said the decision to approach Nigeria was informed by longstanding bilateral relations and the need for stronger cooperation among African countries.
Wilson described the engagement as enlightening and said Ghana had deliberately chosen Nigeria as a partner in its efforts to develop local expertise rather than look exclusively beyond the continent for technical support.
“We are here basically to deepen capacity. For reasons having to do with regional solidarity, Ghana decided to choose Nigeria as a senior partner instead of looking outside the continental shelf of Africa,” he said.
He added: “Nigeria, being our big brother, became our desired destination for us to seek technical assistance to set up our own centre of excellence.”
Wilson explained that the proposed collaboration could cover the development of legal frameworks, technical assistance, stakeholder engagement, consultancy services, human capital development and capacity building.
The discussions reflect Ghana’s interest in drawing on Nigeria’s experience in petroleum training as it works towards establishing an institution capable of supporting the technical requirements of its oil and gas sector.
A major part of the visit was an inspection of PTI’s specialised training facilities, where the delegation received practical explanations of the institute’s operations and technical capabilities.
At the rig operations facility, the Director of Rig Operations, Engr. Lawrence Uti, briefed the visitors on rig operations and drilling principles, highlighting processes relevant to the training of personnel for petroleum exploration and related activities.
The delegation subsequently visited the institute’s flow station, where the Flow Station Director, Engr. Austin Ogugu, explained the stages involved in hydrocarbon production and processing.
Ogugu took the visitors through the operational sequence from the wellhead and manifold to separators and the chambers used for crude oil, gas and water.
The facility tour provided the Ghanaian officials with an opportunity to observe how PTI combines classroom instruction with practical exposure to petroleum industry operations.
Members of the Ghanaian delegation included Bridgette Obiri-Yeboah, Director at the NPA; Mohammed Issah, Director of Policy at the Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies (COMAC); Eunice Budu Nyarko, Director of Commercial Services; and Sedinam Mammara, Director of Human Resources.
Others were Mudasiru Malana, Technical Aide; Saed Ubeidaleh, Head of Quality Control; Godwin Yan Konu, Director of Business Development; and George Sasu Afful, who oversees talent development.
The visit highlights the potential for Nigeria and Ghana to expand cooperation in petroleum education, technical training and research, particularly as both countries seek to strengthen the availability of skilled personnel within the energy sector.
While the engagement focused on identifying possible areas of collaboration, any formal partnership would require further discussions and arrangements between the relevant institutions.
If translated into a structured agreement, the proposed cooperation could provide Ghana with access to PTI’s accumulated training experience while creating opportunities for greater professional exchange and technical capacity development across West Africa.
