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BY ABU-SATAR HAMED
LAGOS, NIGERIA – In a renewed demonstration of its commitment to promoting local content and building indigenous capacity, Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has welcomed a new batch of graduate engineers into its growing technical workforce.
No fewer than 330 young engineers, drawn from reputable tertiary institutions across Nigeria, were formally inducted into the organisation during a recent ceremony held at the refinery complex.
The new intakes are joining their counterparts who have already undergone world‑class training, technical mentorship, and hands‑on rotational exposure across key units within the refinery and petrochemicals value chain.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Refinery, Mr. David Bird said the induction marks another strategic step in the company’s drive to build local capacity, strengthen Nigeria’s engineering talent pool, and ensure sustained operational excellence across its integrated energy infrastructure.
He commended the Engineer Trainees for their exceptional performance and encouraged them to continue learning and improving promising them they have favourable work environment for them to display their potential.
Bird charged them to give their best in their various areas of operations saying the training has prepared them on what their expectations would be while working in a world class modern refinery like Dangote Refinery.
The trainee engineers represent core disciplines including Chemical Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Instrumentation.
Their induction reflected the organisation’s ongoing investments in technical capacity development and succession planning.
The young engineers, one after another in groups presented and defended their projects as they were grilled by members of management of the Company on what they have learnt so far and what innovations they are bringing into the refinery.
The project defence marked the end of their class training as they presented projects focusing on practical solutions to current and future challenges in the plant, including: Modelling an entire plant or the Refinery Process as well as Research and Development and proffering practical solutions.
Dr. Ebele Oputa, Coordinator of the programme and Assistant General Manager, Human Asset Management, Dangote Petroleum Refinery, said the induction further underscored DPRP’s dedication to nurturing local talent and building a strong pipeline of skilled engineers to support its operations
Giving insights into the Programme, Oputa explained that The Refinery management, according to her, designed the training in such a way that the young engineers could match the theory learnt in their schools with practical training offered during the refinery training programme.
“This is meant to develop their practical and leadership skills over time to effectively guide their teams in professional and personal development. While some individuals may have a natural inclination to lead, leadership skills can also be honed, allowing all management trainees to excel in leadership roles over time”, Dr. Oputa stated.
She explained further that training programmes offer opportunities for the engineers to connect with industry professionals, potentially leading to valuable connections and help them identify their strengths and weaknesses, set career goals, and develop a roadmap for achieving them.
Furthermore, the Programme Coordinator said the hands-on training would help the new engineers to have improved confidence in their abilities and preparing them for the challenges ahead at the workplace.
“They pass through induction, Observation and Shadowing at the Refinery, equipment training in class; Hands-on training at the Refinery before they proceed to Plant’s unit wise training in the production area and supervised working with coaching for the rest of their time”, he said.
The trainee Engineers expressed gratitude to the management of the Dangote Refinery for the opportunity offered to be part of the preparatory programme to becoming a staff of the world largest single train refinery, describing the development as a dream come through to them.
They also promised not to betray the confidence reposed in them by the management.
The initiative underscored the company’s resolve to empower Nigerian youths, develop homegrown expertise, and sustain a high-performance culture within its operations.
