West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited on Wednesday graduated 164 youths who have acquired various technical and vocational skills.
At the event held in Ota, Ogun State, youths who have been trained in electrical installations, aluminium fabrication, catering, tailoring, and others got the necessary tools to make them self-employed.
WAPCo said this was part of its efforts to give back to the communities hosting its pipelines in Nigeria, Ghana, Benin Republic, and Togo.
WAPCo’s General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Isaac Adjei Doku, said the company would continue to empower the community as long as the pipelines remain intact.
Adjei Doku said the larger percentage of the company’s empowerment programmes take place in Nigeria, as the country has its longest pipeline covering 56 kilometres in Ogun and Lagos States.
He said, “Nigeria is our biggest community. We’ve got 56 communities across the pipeline, and most of them are here in Nigeria because this is the area where we’ve got a longer section of the pipeline onshore. We have about 56 kilometres of the pipeline onshore. And so it goes to various communities. So, we feel that it’s our responsibility to put something back in the community.
“At certain times, business people (1:25) underestimate the cordial relationship and peaceful environment within which we operate the business. But I think that as businesses, we ought to recognise that you can never put a price on peace and cordiality. So, as a business, and again, in fulfilling our bit of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, we believe that we have to put something back into the community because they give us the land; they give us everything that we need to operate successfully.”
According to him, the idea behind the programme was to bring many people out of poverty by giving them skills and the required tools.
Adjei Doku disclosed that WAPCo spends $750,000 on empowerment programmes annually, while each beneficiary has a budget of $600.
“Every year, we spend not less than $750,000 across the four countries, and we have been doing this for 10 years plus. That gives you roughly how much we have invested over the years. The idea is not to spend less than $600 per candidate, so you could do the maths yourself,” he stated.
The GM noted that WAPCo’s pipeline has been very secure in Nigeria and other countries because it has cordial relationships with the host communities.
The event was attended by traditional rulers, parents of the graduates, and the chairman of Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government, Hon. Wasiu Lawal, who sought collaborations with WAPCo as the council plans to revive its works department.
