National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has partnered with a private Institute to commence a diploma programme in solar technology. The NBTE partnered with Asteven Energy Institute to issue a National Innovation Diploma (NID) in solar energy technology.
The institute disclosed this at a stakeholder meeting held online in Lagos.
During his remarks, the President of Asteven Energy Group, Dr Sunny Akpoyibo, said the drive to establish the institute was borne out of a vision to ensure that Nigeria and indeed, Africa does not become just a project-based location. He said it was established to provide local expert technical manpower resources for the industry and for the quantum of solar projects being undertaken.
Akpoyibo said the need for certification became necessary because of the increase and importance of solar technologies in Nigeria. He affirmed that as part of the energy transition plan, there was a dearth of trained and skilled manpower; which if not promptly addressed, would see the industry overrun by quacks and foreign technicians. The president noted that industries in developed climes have certification programmes that determine their skill levels.
“The solar industry has turned into an all-comers affair with the resultant effect of failed installations, wrong assessments and public apathy,” Akpoyibo said.
Also speaking, the Rector of the Institute, Prof. Magnus Onuoha, said that with the certification, no company, either local or foreign, would have the excuse that there were no trained or skilled technicians in the solar energy space in Nigeria. Onuoha, a renowned green economist, carbon markets and renewable energy specialist, said that the certification would also provide an opportunity to continue up-skilling and re-skilling capacity in the industry.
“The NID for Solar Technology is a practical based four semesters programme; two-year diploma programme conceptualised as a school to work programme, whereby training is undertaken with a bent toward proffering easily transferable, replicable and implementable skills in the solar energy industry in Nigeria.
“This programme which will soon commence is offered by the Asteven Energy Institute, the only training centre accredited by the NBTE in Nigeria,” Onuoha said.
He added that the NID programme class is restricted to 30 students to ensure full scale training and impartation of skills; with a JAMB/UTME score of 100 required for admission.
A representative of the NBTE, Donald Odiyoma, said that the NBTE was the only organisation entitled by the law to assess and accredit enterprise innovation centres.
The session ended with a commitment by the Governing Council of the school to sponsor 10 students for the programme while individual sponsorships were committed to by other professionals present who include Dr Segun Adaju, the immediate Past President of the Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria; Dr Paul Abolo, the Chief Executive Officer of Ecologistics and Motunrayo Salami, a strategic development expert.
(NAN)
