NGSDP NATIONAL POWER TRAINING INSTITUTE (NAPTIN): A FEDERAL SCAM?

It is pertinent to let the world and the Federal Government know of the scam being perpetrated on the citizens and Graduate Engineers by the National Power Training Institute (NAPTIN) and its DG Engr. Reuben Okeke.

We the graduates of 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 sets have decided to come out and voice out our pain, anguish, displeasure and dissapointment about the behavio of Engr. Okeke and that of NAPTIN as a whole. If we do not speak out on time then other graduate engineers will still fall prey to their unholy and unconstitutional practices as NAPTIN has already posted adverts for the next batch of trainings for 2015 when the graduates of the previous two sets are still languishing at home jobless even after obtaining a 'MERIT' pass certificate which was the minimum required grade obtainable by any NAPTIN graduate seeking a job offer within the power sector.

Infact, Engr. Okeke in clear terms stated during the 2nd inauguration ceremony on 15/11/2013 that the 10 best graduating students of NAPTIN will be granted the the right of first refusal for job placement within NAPTIN itself. This statement, the same Engr. Okeke has vehemently denied during our last scheduled meeting with NAPTIN seeking that they fulfilled all the promises they made both at the 2nd inauguration (15/11/2013) and graduation (01/12/2014) ceremonies.


But we wish to remind Engr. Okeke and NAPTIN that it is on note that he made those statements to the hearing of everyone present at those two ceremonies, some of which includes representatives from the ministry of Power, chairman Senate committee on power and also some foreign investors, and that we have in our possession the video recording of those occasions which we will use in exposing his lies when the time comes. Infact, during our graduation ceremony, Amb. Igali stated in plain English that the President had given approval that the 189 "merit" graduates of 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 to be employed by TCN, a copy of that statement which we equally have in our possession.

Though it is also important to let the public know that we never had problems with the quality of training NAPTIN gave us, the quality of the training we received was "first class " ranging from the classroom exposure in our respective regional training Centres (RTCs), to our sectorial and sub-sectorial practical field jobs, infact, while on the field we worked alongside seasoned Engineers and sometimes expatriates in carrying out routine maintenance, repairs and installations jobs.

But the crux of the matter is why waste so much resources without any end product? Why should an unemployed graduate cough out 750,000 naira plus almost another one million naira for housing, feeding, and transportation, risking lives traveling all over the country for one year without a guaranteed end product? These graduates travelled to Abuja RTC, Egbin thermal (Lagos sectorial ), Sapele thermal (Module I), Olorunshogo -papalanto (module II), etc in the course of the well structured training. Some other colleagues went to Geregu (Kogi sectorial ), kaduna disco (sectorial ), kainji RTC (module II ), Jos RTC, Afam IV & V (Port-Harcourt sectorial ), Orji River RTC (Enugu ), Lagos transmission (Ijora ), etc

The training being a national program meant that we had to travel the length and breadth of Nigeria but on OUR OWN MONEY! . The training was no joke, so why should the end result be? These questions and many more are the reasons for our outburst and we demand answers to them.

If NAPTIN and the Federal government cannot employ the merited graduates of NAPTIN, then let it be scrapped. It is unhealthy and unconstitutional for the FG through NAPTIN to exploit the vulnerability of Engineering graduates for profit making purposes without adequate plans for the benefit of the graduates themselves.

It is worrying also that even within the FG circle itself NAPTIN certificate is useless, valueless and unrecognized. All our individual attempts to render the NAPTIN certificate to the ministry of Power (MOP) and it's other Government sister power agencies such as NERC, EMS and co, for their consideration of our employment has seen this same NAPTIN certificate thrown back at us saying that " we do not know what NAPTIN is and as such it cannot be used as a basis for your employment ". This statement not only show how useless the certificate is but also showing its lack of educational value and making it an equivalent of a roadside computer Centre.


Painful as this may sound, it is nothing compared to the despair we felt while with our host companies during our respective field sectorial duties where our host companies kept on with side recruitments through the back door. Infact my host plant, Sahara Energy (owners of IKEDC and Egbin thermal ) conducted a fresh recruitment under our very nose and sent the successful candidates to the same NAPTIN for training without any consideration for us. Obviously we made our plight known to NAPTIN but they washed their hands of it saying they cannot force any Genco or disco to employ people against their wish, then we wonder and begin to ask the questions of what happened to the remaining FG stake of 30-40% ownership in such companies if they cannot atleast have a say in those companies recruitment exercise.

Bordering on all these points is the reason for our public outcry about NAPTIN nefarious activities that even after 22 months and 9 months of graduation of the 2012/2013 set and 2013/2014 set respectively; and constant meetings and pleas with the NAPTIN management to fulfill their own end of the bargain (since we have fulfilled ours), but they have all through these meetings shamelessly denied ever promising us Jobs.

Therefore, we have resolved to expose them for what they are, we will stop at nothing to make sure that they deliver on their promises to us. It is time for them to be held accountable to their words, the era of making empty political statements and promises is gone.

Our demands therefore are simple and as follows ;

1. The immediate grant of the right of first refusal for direct employment into NAPTIN for the 2013/2014 first 10 best Graduates.

2. The immediate employment of the remaining 189 merit graduates of both the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 sets either by TCN or by its other Government sister Power agencies.

4. That FG should mandate NAPTIN to stop the present advert for admission which it has posted both online and in the National dailies, till our pressing issues are attended to.

4. That the FG through Ministry of Power (MOP) should mandate all Private Companies (Gencos and Discos ) and Public (TCN, NERC, etc) to grant the graduates of NAPTIN the right of first refusal during employment as it still retains 30-40% ownership of stake in such companies.

5. That failure to do 1&2 above, then NAPTIN should refund our 750,000naira paid as Tuition and school fees.

6. That as promised during our inauguration, NAPTIN should endeavor to partner with top recognised universities both home and foreign for the upgrade of our certificate to Post-graduate studies.






PS:
We also wish to use this medium to tell our respective State Governments and our other benefactors who sponsored us and even provided us stipends to take care of our running expenses incurred during this period, hoping that we will become useful to ourselves and the State in particular can now see through the lies of Engr. Reuben Okeke as the DG of NAPTIN who is only concerned about the money that will come to him.

Our advice is to disregard further letters sent to you about admission of your state indigenes for the next set of trainings when virtually all of us from the previous sets are still at home. We employ you to insist on NAPTIN making true their promise of getting us Jobs first before sponsoring another set.



- To our fresh Graduates, please do not fall prey to their scam I.e adverts you see everywhere. They are only looking for the gullible to prey on, draining them financially, mentally, psychologically and otherwise in the process. inshort, they are only interested in your money while selling you lies. They remain a scam and a fiarce until proven otherwise. BE WARNED!!!





Signed :

2012/2013
2013/2014
Graduates of NAPTIN