Let me start by saying I am not a politician. I am one of the National Graduate Skills Development Programme (NGSDP) trainees of the 2012/2013 batch. My parents are both retired principals who paid the NGSDP fees for me out of their pension. I have no family member nor do I have any link to anyone in the past or present government.
Following the NAPTIN advert in the Monday, February 20, 2012 publication of The Guardian, I applied for the NGSDP training with NAPTIN and I received my letter of provisional admission on 13th June 2012. I had a choice either to join my brothers abroad or try and get established in Nigeria so we all are not overseas. I read hard and did all that was required. Thus I took seriously the promise that the first ten best performing students will get automatic employment. Today I have that employment with NAPTIN because I was one of the best ten NGSDP trainees. I am working really hard applying the knowledge I acquired through NAPTIN to improve the conditions of my country. I am here in Nigeria contributing because of this policy and this project. So if people want to score political points, I am aware it is a chess game, but please do not use us as pawns.
I work for whatever government is in power, to provide power. I would not have responded to this article considering that underneath this must lay huge political undertones, something we are anathema to as public servants. My politics should and does end at voting. However, when I read that a particular policy of which I am a beneficiary is fraudulent, then I have been called fraudulent myself and I must respond.
The National Power Training Institute is not a recruiting organization. Its mandate is to offer an international standard of professional training in the power sector. As such, it can only recommend the best performing trainees for employment. Recommend and not recruit! Nor compel the power companies to employ. Trust me the knowledge acquired from NAPTIN is not restricted to the power sector alone. Before gaining my employment as an instructor with NAPTIN, I sat for an aptitude test with an oil company (name withheld for obvious reasons). Being one of the 20 engineers with the highest scores in the test, I was called for an interview with the oil company afterwards during which I was asked questions on pumps, valves and compressors. As a NAPTIN NGSDP trainee, you are trained on pumps, valves and compressors both in the classroom and on the field. So the NGSDP training even though it is designed for the power sector, the knowledge gained is also applicable in other sectors.
NAPTIN IS NOT A SCAM. NGSDP IS NOT A SCAM.
The NAPTIN trainees who have been employed by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and the Electricity Distribution Companies (including Abuja, Enugu, Benin, Ibadan) and a few generation companies such as Transcorp Ughelli Power total over 67%. That is a good rate by any standard. It is unfair and sad that some trainees who are NOT YET employed are losing hope and resorting to this propaganda. You have acknowledged that you received top quality training from NAPTIN. Do not give up. Your time will come.
The fact is that the Nigerian power sector is about to experience a boom and it requires the services of highly efficient personnel. I am optimistic that we shall enjoy a massive decline in the rate of unemployment. People have been recruited, are being recruited and more people will be recruited.
Grab this opportunity to apply and undergo the National Graduate Skills Development Programme (NGSDP) training with the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria. The NGSDP training equips trainees with skills and knowledge no university in Nigeria can presently offer. It places you above your peers and makes you stand out.