The Federal Government through the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) has commenced a five-day skills development and training of automobile technicians on the conversion of petrol to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered vehicles in the state.
The training which commenced on Monday at the NADDC automobile training centre in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti state in partnership with Lanre Shittu Motors had technicians from the 16 Local Government Areas of the state.
The Director General of NADDC, Joseph Osanipin while speaking at the opening of the training said that President Bola Tinubu was determined to implement the CNG conversion across the country towards reducing energy cost and ensuring economic growth.
He noted that the specialized training is aimed at ensuring capacity building and skills upgrade for technicians and youths to enable them cope in the ever-dynamic automotive industry.
The DG explained that the CNG initiative is a cleaner source of energy adding that it would also create a lot of employment opportunities for citizens of the country.
According to him, “The emergence of CNG as an alternative to petrol is the direct result of government’s policies to address energy-security and environmental concerns. NADDC being the foremost agency in charge of the Automotive Industry in Nigeria has been integrated into the PCNGI and is already playing leading roles in the implementation of the programmes, those is because of the critical roles the council plays in the industry in the areas of technical know-how and expertise.
“This is a cleaner energy source because we talk about our environment. There is nothing as important as life and because of that we are looking at what will make life worth living because we have been talking about pollution and climate change. CNG is a cleaner source of energy that is environmentally friendly.
“It is a cheaper form of energy also because a KG is N230 and Nigeria is a gas country. We are more gas than crude oil. We have gas in huge volume and we can continually produce gas at a much cheaper rate compared to PMS.
“This is going to create a lot of employment and there is a lot of value chain anyone can key in. The kits are being distributed, the cylinder, conversion and provision of the gas. Everything within the value chain is what we want our people to learn from.”
On his part, Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji represented by the Commissioner for Infrastructure and Public Utilities, Professor Mobolaji Aluko reiterated the commitment of the state government to the CNG initiative.
He revealed that more conversion centres and mobile stations for refueling will be made available in the State.
“We have keyed into the process and we are fully supporting it and supporting the NADDC leading the efforts within the State. We will continue to ensure our people get the best in terms of these advantages,” he said.
The representative of Lanre Shittu Motors, Jamiu Akinyemi said that the training programme will cut across the six geopolitical zones in the country.
He revealed that each beneficiary will be given a tool box while calling on the federal government to assist the indigenous companies to boost production and services.
Also, Chairman, Nigerian Automobile Technicians Association, NATA, Ekiti State Chapter, Olusoji Olusegun who commended NADDC said that the training will in no small measure benefit his members across the state.
According to him, “it’s going to benefit the state because as soon as we are trained, I believe we will be extending the training to other people.”
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