Written by Dr. Edwin Ndukwe

KAZTEC Engineering Limited, a subsidiary of Chrome Group, over the weekend showcased their technical capacity and a dynamic framework for adding real jobs to real Nigerian economy. This was evident when the nation’s leading oil & gas Chiefs visited their bustling fabrication yard located on Snake Island, Lagos.

During the scheduled visit, work on the yard was busier than usual. Engineers, welders, fabricators, Crane operators, logistic and procurement specialists, all collaborated seamlessly to lay the ground work for the anticipated load out of EBUGU BOOSTER COMPRESSOR BC-2.  According to Mr. Marc Robillard, the Commercial Director, KAZTEC currently has about 50 Engineers actively working on the Fab yard and more to come on board; 75 procurement and logistic professionals, 500 skilled labor workforce and 30 project Managers. Direct jobs expected from the fabrication yard are about 5000 and 20000 non-direct jobs by full commission in 2016, said Robillard. That number, KAZTEC management believes will help to lower unemployment in the nation, which is at 20.3 million according to report from National Bureau of Statistics.

KAZTEC’s potential to add more Nigerian’s into the workforce has been echoed by all visitors to the fabrication yard. Speaking to the press while on the island, the Group Managing Director for NNPC, Engr. Andrew Yakubu said, “the present transformation agenda of the President is all about creating capacity and capability and you need human beings to support that initiative and there is no doubt that this will have that effect to achieve it”. Stretching his thoughts further on the opportunities that lies ahead for Nigerians through the massive project undertaken by KAZTEC, he said, “More people will be employed and as we move jobs from outside the country, to key into the local content capacity building opportunity. Capacity building is about the human being, we are going to have quite a number of them participating and ours is to encourage and make sure that this is actualized.”

The GED Exploration & Production for NNPC, Dr. Joseph Darhwa was equally there to make his thoughts known about the ongoing activities at the fabrication yard. “What I have seen so far today is so very very impressive. I mean, all the work that is going on is highly impressive. I heard about this, but coming and seeing it, is believing.  And I am happy to see that all Nigerians are participating in the activity here, he said. “We are quite happy about that. If we can get one or two Nigerian Company doing this kind of activity, I mean it is going a long way in achieving the kind of transformation we want to see in the oil and gas sector”. Dr. Darhwa concluded by saying, “By doing this here, we are creating more jobs, getting more Nigerians involved”.