An Assessment of Petroleum Technology Development Fund (Ptdf)

Abstract

The importance of indigenous technological training and skill development in Nigeria cannot be over-emphasized. Several reforms and institutions have been established in this direction. The institutions include Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) and the Petroleum Technology and Development Fund (PTDF) established for the purpose of providing scholarships, bursaries, training or education in petroleum in any of the higher institutions in Nigeria and abroad. The objectives of the study include: to analyse the functions of PTDF in Nigeria; to find out whether the establishment of PTDF has helped in bringing technical development to oil industry; to find out if the funds for scholarships/bursaries and training have been judiciously utilized amongst others. The method adopted for the study is the historical method. In doing this, relevant documents, newspapers, internet and other related literature were utilized to elicit information for the research. The major findings are that inadequate numbers of human resources have been trained with requisite knowledge to cope with our technological problem in our oil industry and that some of those trained lack the technical know-how to manage the refineries. It is recommended that in order to enhance productivity and efficiency in our petroleum industry, technological and professional training in a real practical form should be encouraged. The number of persons offered training and scholarship award should be increased so as to enable more workers and students benefit from the fund.LWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research Vol. 5 2008: pp. 245-258