The Federal Government has
reiterated that diversifying the country’s energy mix to Compressed Natural Gas
(CNG) will create more jobs and wealth for Nigerians.
The Director-General, National
Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Mr Joseph Osanipin, gave the
assurance at the Critique/Validation Workshop for the recently developed
National Occupational Standard (NOS) in Keffi yesterday.
The NOS is for the conversion,
calibration and maintenance of CNG/autogas-powered vehicles and electric
vehicles service/maintenance in Nigeria.
“The development of the NOS
you are about to discuss is a testament to the efforts the council is making to
ensure skills development and upgrade in the automotive sector.
“NADDC is promoting the
development of CNG/Auto Gas-Powered and Electric vehicles in Nigeria and
creating the enabling environment for them to thrive.
“This will reduce the
dependency on petrol and diesel and mitigate environmental concerns (greenhouse
gas emissions).
It is also a means of
diversification of the Nigerian economy and will lead to more job opportunities
and wealth creation for Nigerians.
According to the NADDC boss,
the essence of the workshop is to ensure that inputs of all relevant
stakeholders are captured in the making of this national document.
He said: “It is expected that
the document that will come out of these efforts will be of international
standards and help to drive the auto sector to its well-deserved position
globally.
“When fully operational, the
framework will place out-of-school children, working adults, graduates and
apprentices at both formal and non-formal settings with skill acquisition and
competency.
“I therefore urge all of you
to give this national assignment the best it deserves.”
According to Osanipin, the NOS
has been developed through the collaborative efforts of all relevant stakeholders
in Automotive sector.
While restating the importance
of CNG, the director-general emphasised the need for training, which he said
would not be possible without a guideline/manual.
“The key areas of CNG training
have to do with the conversion, storage, transportation, calibration, and
maintenance among others.
“We need to conduct training
and for you to conduct the training, there must be a manual for those training
to be done,” he said.
On readiness, he said various
stakeholders from different sectors were involved who would play different
roles.
The stakeholders include
academicians, technicians, people already working on CNG conversions, ITF, SON
and more that have come together to develop this manual.
“And by the time we develop
this manual, it will put the artisans through the necessary training.
“It is a competency based
training that will ensure the real technical know-how is transfered to the
artisan so that we will be able to develop technical aspect of the CNG.
“No country had everything
going for them at once, we have to train people to acquire the knowledge and
so, this is the process we have started now.
On high cost of conversion of
CNG vehicles, Osanipin said: “When you look at the cost of maintaining your
vehicle in the long run, you will see the advantage therein in CNG.
“The cost is not that much
when you look at the benefits, so we are focusing more on the benefits.
Other than the financial
benefits, we have the human environment benefits and so on.”
Stakeholders and partners
present at the workshop reiterated their commitments to collaborate with the
NADDC to drive the automobile sector of the country.
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