A non-governmental organisation, the Community Trust (CT) of Ke Town in Degema Local Government Area has handed over tools boxes as starter packs to 30 graduands of its Skills Acquisition Programme.

The box contains tools to enable the recipients, who had undergone six months of skills acquisition trainings, put into practice the skills so acquired.

In an exclusive interview with the secretary of the CT, Barrister Ibikroma Max-Alalibo, shortly after the ceremony, he disclosed that of the 30 grandaunts, 10 were trained in tight-fitting, argon welding and pipeline welding.

The training, according to him, is intended to prepare the graduands and place them in good stead in terms of competing favourably in employment into the oil industry.

“We organised the training to enable our people participate in the oil industry when it comes to areas of tight-fitting, pipeline welding and argon welding”, he said.

The CT scribe explained that in addition to giving them starter packs, the graduands were registered in the various skill associations such as Fitters Association and Welders Association.

Barr. Max-Alalibo, however, gave kudos to Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and the Rivers State Government for coming up with the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMOU) through which the training was made possible.

“The GMOU is the best thing to have happened to all communities in the Niger Delta because as a tripartite arrangement involving government, company and host community, it allows the community to chart its own developmental course, based on the resources of the company, in this case, SPDC”, he explained.

The GMOU arrangement, he said “is better that the period prior to 2007, when GMOU came into effect, in which the companies embark on whatever projects they consider good for their host communities without recourse to what the community actually needs”.

He used the opportunity to advise the beneficiaries to “take the skill they have acquired serious and live up to the expectations of their community, SPDC and the state government”, saying that they are “the priviledged few among over 500 people that required to be trained in the three skills”

On their part, some of the graduands who spoke to The Tide on condition of anonymity, assured on their determination to not only disappoint “the government, SPDC and our community (Ke), but also ourselves, because if we do not make good use of this opportunity, every body will know we have failed”.

The CT has also trained people in other skills such as computer appreciation, hair dressing, tailoring, as well as printing and lithography.