By Chimezie Godfrey
The country’s leading engineering construction company, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, last Thursday graduated a second batch of trainees from its Plant and Equipment Academy in Abuja.
The event was described as a celeberation of another key mileage in the company’s consistency of purpose and proactive contribution to the country’s industrial and technological development and industrial advancement.
The Head of Julius Berger’s Plant and Equipment Department, the department which in conjunction with the Human Resource Department coordinates the work of the Academy, Francois Roos kickstarted the programme of events when he formally welcomed guests to the ceremony at the Academy premises.
Thereafter, calling the event a ‘proud and worthy event in the history of Julius Berger‘, the representative of the Managing Director at the event, the company’s Executive Director of Administration, Alhaji Zubairu Ibrahim Bayi, Fniob, offered the warm felicitation of the executive management to both the managers of the Academy, the graduating students and invited guests.
Alhaji Bayi said the idea as well as the well-focused and consistent implementation of the Julius Berger Plant and Equipment Academy remains a legacy contribution by the company to the transfer of critically needed technical know-how and skills to assist the country’s technological and industrial development needs.
Speaking further, Bayi said the Julius Berger Plant and Equipment Academy was also conceptualised to empower selected artisans with further productive technical skills for reliable industrial development and contribution to nation-building. This vision and goal, he said, is slowly but surely bearing fruit.
It would be recalled that during the launch of the Academy on 25th February last year, speaking on behalf of the Executive Management, had Bayi informed invited guests that the Academy was envisioned by the company to be “a leading institution in technical training, JBN’s funnel for dynamic, highly trained and resourceful technicians to fill the needs of the company and the industry in general.” That, Bayi said, was the reason Julius Berger very carefully chose the Armed Forces Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Mechatronic School (AFEME) as the company’s strategic partner for the Academy.
AFEME is managed by the Nigerian Army in collaboration with the German Technical Advisory Group. With a sense of satisfaction with the outcome of that choice, Bayi said that, “since the take-off of the Academy through its first graduation ceremony, which held on 25th August, 2022 till this 2nd graduation ceremony (of 31st August, 2023), the partnership between Julius Berger and AFEME has remained consistently seamless, productive and fit for purpose.”
While the first set of graduands from the Academy were trained in Combustion Engines and Drive Trains, this second set of graduands have been trained in Basic Electricity and Automotive Application. From the six trainees that graduated from the Academy’s first set in 2022, the number of trainees that graduated from the Julius Berger Plant and Equipment Academy last Thursday has progressed to eight.
The ceremony which had the ‘Best graduating Student‘ being awarded a special prize for his brilliant results, also saw the graduands collectively presenting an impressive electrical project designed and made by their graduating class at the ceremony to good applause by both their satisfied instructors and invited guests.
Bayi noted and assured that while all the current graduands were males, “…as we go forward into the future, we believe the gender mix among trainees will be manifested perhaps by proactive affirmative action.” Bayi emphasised that “Julius Berger Nigeria Plc is proudly, strongly reputed to be gender-neutral in all its work spaces. We therefore look forward to graduating many female trainees as the Academy continues to progressively deliver its mission.”
The administration Director thanked the managers and facilitators of the academy for their commitment to the excellent idea and ideals of the unique institution.
He thereafter congratulated the graduating trainees for their disciplined commitment to their studies and wish them good success and only the best in their careers going forward.
“As worthy alumni of this institution, I charge you to be and remain good ambassadors of this great Academy in particular, and of our parent company, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, both in practice and in character,” Alhaji Bayi said.
Guests at the ceremony included technical instructors from the Armed Forces Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Mechatronic School (AFEME) led by Captain M.M Idris as well as officials of the Industrial Training Fund led by Engr. Umar.
Other senior Julius Berger officials at the event included the Head of the company’s Plant and Equipment Department, Francois Roos, the Head of Human Resources, the senior Manager, Training, Festus Akin Ogunfuyi, Talent Manager, Adeyinka Adeniyi, the Coordinator of the Academy, Ajamah Himauel, Workshop Managers Juan and Price; and the Head of the company’s Media Relations Office, Prince Moses Duku, Fnipr.
Alhaji Bayi, on behalf of the company’s Managing Director and Executive Management, thanked guests for coming for the ceremony, and wished both the graduands and invited guests a safe return journey to their respective destinations.
