Professional staff of the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) are to receive specialised training from the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) to enhance the agency’s mandate.
Executive Secretary, PTDF, Dr Oluwole Oluleye, made this known when he received the director-general of the agency, Mr Peter Edabor, and the management team on a courtesy visit in Abuja yesterday.
He noted that the fund had trained many environmental scientists at Msc and doctoral levels under the overseas scholarship scheme and promised to extend the training to the staff of the agency who are already on the job.
“I want to say that our job here is building competencies and capabilities in the oil and gas industry and we are prepared as part of our mandate to offer short term training for key staff of NOSDRA”.
Oluleye observed that oil spills were not the only form of environmental contamination arising from operations in the oil and gas sector. He challenged
NOSDRA to also direct its work at containing the effects of pipeline vandalism, and the use of poor construction materials in building petroleum storage facilities which results in contamination of the food chain, due to the release of heavy metals and carcinogens into the eco system.
Director-General of NOSDRA while speaking said, the visit is in continuation of the agency’s strategic effort at seeking collaboration with relevant government stakeholders like PTDF “it is on record that PTDF has over the years contributed immensely to the institutional and human capital development in the petroleum sector of the country and we wish to tap from this mandate” he said.