Mr Babatunde Fashola, the Governor of Lagos State, has commissioned the Lagos Energy Academy and inducted the first batch of its students.
The Governor said the Lagos Energy Academy will provide training for young people to become technicians and electrical engineers and provide training in generation, transmission and distribution.
Speaking at the Lagos State Electricity Board, Works Yard Road, GRA in Ikeja, the venue of the commissioning ceremony, Fashola explained that inside the Academy, there are modules on the sub-station that people see outside which has been simulated as well as transformers and all sorts of learning equipment and tools.
“We believe that over the years, there is a possibility to produce as many as 200,000 graduates who would have Siemens certification to be able to work anywhere. We are also partnering with a meter manufacturing company who is training them on how to diagnose faults with meters, the old analogue meters, the digital meters, the card meters, so that they are able to render service in terms of power generation transmission and distribution and all of the challenges,” he said.
According to the Governor, the State Government’s initiative is significant because it connects the curriculum of the Academy with the needs of the society.
“This really now is connecting our curriculum to the needs of our society, the biggest needs of this society today is power and as the Discos are taking position, they are going to need men and women, boys and girls who will provide the manpower, the knowledge and this is where we have decided to invest, to connect these young people to jobs that are waiting to be taken so that they do not continue to complain about unemployment.
“So, we have taken them from all levels, from vocational centres, technical colleges and through our schools systems to give them a chance to start out a new career in power sector in Lagos”, he explained.
Engineer Taofik Tijani, Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Engineer Taofik Tijani; Cornelius Ojelabi, Commissioner for Rural Development; Damilola Ogunbiyi, General Manager, Lagos State Electricity Board and other top officials of the Board also attended the commissioning.