OREANDA-NEWS. May 10, 2012. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is set to partner with the National Institute for Policy & Strategic Studies (NIPSS) towards improving the capacity of the Corporation’s workforce.

This was made known by the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Engr Austen Oniwon during a courtesy call on him by the NIPSS Management recently.

“The oil and gas industry is a global industry and if you are not up there in terms of training and development, you’ll lose your competitive advantage’’, the GMD noted.

“We recognize the role which NIPSS play in national development. If your programmes meet our training and manpower development needs especially in terms of quality, we’ll definitely patronize you,” he added.

Engr Oniwon also reiterated the commitment of NNPC to continue to develop local content through the Nigerian Content law which will ensure that patronage is given to local industries particularly in the nation’s oil and gas sector.

"I can assure you that NNPC is local content compliant and we are in the vanguard of local content promotion in the oil and gas industry,’’ the GMD stressed.

Speaking earlier, the NIPSS Director of Research who led the delegation, Prof Olu Obafemi said they were in the NNPC Towers to fulfill the institute’s mandate of assisting organisations in their human capital development initiatives.

“Many people only see NIPSS as just an (mni) awarding institution. We are far beyond that. We are also involved in other things such as research and training through our seminars, workshops and retreats,” Prof Obafemi stated.

He said the NNPC’s role in developing the nation’s economy remained very pivotal in the current administration’s transformation agenda.

Other dignitaries on the NNPC Management’s team during the occasion were the GGM Medical and Ag. GED CS, Dr Peter Nmadu, and STA to GMD, Mr Sly Okundigie while on the NIPSS team were Head of NIPSS Consult, Dr Ibrahim Choji and the External Consultant to NIPSS, Mr Jerry Nwohu.

Founded in 1979, the NIPSS is a policy formation centre for bureaucrats, private sector leaders, military officers and medium-rank and senior civil servants. It is based in Kuru, a few kilometers to Jos, Plateau State.