The Nigerian Institute of Welding has urged the Federal Government to check the influx of unskilled expatriates into the oil industry.
The NIW, in a communique on Friday at the end of its annual conference in Effurun, Delta State, lamented that some foreign nationals masquerading as professionals, easily found their way into the country.
The body said it was unpatriotic on the part of the government to allow the oil majors and service companies to import welding personnel into the country, while better qualified Nigerian welders remained jobless.
The association added that the influx of unskilled expatriates parading as technocrats in the oil industry negated the local content policy of the government, adding that the foreign nationals had taken over virtually all the jobs Nigerians could effectively do in the industry.
Consequently, the NIW appealed to all stakeholders in the industry to support the NIW to grow.
It said, �Welding institutes all over the world are a function of the industry and as such, are supported by the industry to play their unique role.
�The stakeholders should not see the Nigerian content as a means of job denial, but as a vehicle designed by the Federal Government to grow local capacity and thus increase the local earnings of the people to improve their lives and create in them the sense of belonging that has eroded the country.
�To this end, the NIW call on the multinationals to partner with us to grow indigenous capacity in this discipline to the mutual benefit of all.�
The communique, signed by the National President, Mr. Solomon Edebiri and other members of its executive, also asked the governments at all levels to re-double efforts geared towards restoring peace in the restive Niger Delta region.
The theme of the conference was, �The state of welding practice in comtempory Nigeria,current situation and way forward.�
The NIW urged the government to urgently restore sanity in the Niger Delta in order for local and foreign investments to flow into and three in the region.
Oct22007