Nigeria’s first Centre of Excellence in Marine and Offshore Engineering has taken root at the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, thanks to the Shell Petroleum Development Company Joint Venture (SPDC JV) which donated the multi-million-naira facility in furtherance of its contributions to top-quartile learning and research in tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
The Centre is stocked with modern hydrodynamic equipment and accessories for post graduate education in related disciplines including Marine Engineering (Power Plant), Naval Architecture as well as Offshore and Subsea Engineering.
“At SPDC, we recognise that the challenges in our industry – in Nigeria and globally – provide us opportunities for participation and innovation. This collaboration with the Rivers State University will serve as a graduate studies centre and develop quality graduates for potential employment in the oil and gas industry and related sectors,” Managing Director SPDC and Country Chair Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor said at the inauguration of the Centre recently.
The Centre of Excellence, apart from building teachers’ capacity, will run 18-month Master’s and Diploma programmes. The academic package covers classroom lecture, practical sessions, term project modules and a 6-month internship in the oil and gas industry. A Board of Trustees made up of members from the Rivers State University and SPDC will administer the joint venture’s annual subvention to the Centre of Excellence.
Blessing Didia, Vice Chancellor of the university, said the facility has strengthened one of the university’s key objectives to produce top-level manpower for development, and that the university was proud to produce the first African professor of Marine Engineering, Bob Manuel. “The university is indeed grateful to SPDC JV for the monumental gesture and the demonstration of corporate responsibility,” the vice chancellor added.
STEPHEN ONYEKWELU
