ABUJA – The Road Transport Employers’ Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) said it will establish more Welding Schools across the country.
Chief Musa Shehu, National President of the Association, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen yesterday in Abuja.
Shehu said the idea of opening the schools became necessary due to the need for certified pipe welders who could work in the union’s car workshops across the country.
“We want to open an institute for training pipe welders, not ordinary road side welders. The pipe welders are highly needed in vehicle assembling centres.
“There is already a workshop which the Ministry of Works handed over to us; so the welding training school will be introduced in the workshops located in the six geopolitical zones in the country.
“We want to make sure that there is an Assembly Plant in the workshop, Completely Knocked Down (CKD) plant where vehicle parts will be fixed and assembled,” he said.
He said every workshop should comprise a mechanic, electrician, vulcanizer, painter, welder and panel beater, among others, to make it complete.
“Any workshop without this set of people is not a complete workshop,’’ the union leader said.
He regretted that there was only one welding school in the country, saying that when the workshop became operational, there would be welding and engineering sections in it.
“The school for welders is the only one in Nigeria and there is a shortage of certified skill personnel in that field.
“ We want to make sure that we create more of the school in each of the geopolitical zones to have certified welders who can weld pipelines in the country,’’ he said.
He said candidates to be admitted to the school must have attended a Technical College.
He said those admitted would undergo courses which may last for one or two years before being certified as Welders.