Sept. 24, 2021

Momas Electrical Meters Manufacturing Companies Limited (MEMMCOL) Metering School says it has trained about 600 Nigerian youths on meter installation and manufacturing in the last 20 months.

Mr. Kola Balogun, Chairman, MEMMCOL, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.

Balogun noted that inadequate manpower was one of several factors responsible for the metering gap in Nigeria.

He said: “From January 2020 to Aug. 2021, we have trained over 600 candidates from across the country and they have been very useful to the metering process.

“We don’t just train, we also educate them and change their attitude to the job because MOMAS represents good product, good character and good thinking.

“They, as our ambassadors, will go out there to make sure that everything is done properly by not allowing energy theft through meter by-pass and sensitising electricity customers.

According to him, the training provides direct and indirect jobs to hundreds of youth who are being taken out of the street and engaged in productive activities.

“There is a lot of manpower deficiency in the power sector and we realised that we have the opportunity to pass on skills we have acquired over 30 years now.

“Our objective is to maximise the opportunity we have in the metering subsection of the power sector value chain by providing adequate and competent training to young graduates, undergraduates and school certificate holders.

“Now we have the ongoing National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) of the Federal Government where the target is to install five million prepaid meters across the country and it is an opportunity to get more youths on board,” Balogun said.

He disclosed that 22 students, sponsored by the Nasarawa State Government, recently graduated from the training programme, adding that other governments and politicians should sponsor more Nigerians for the training.

“Our training and the curriculum are endorsed by the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE).

“These bodies of engineers have come out with the scope of the curriculum and it was designed to accommodate everyone irrespective of your background, either science or not,” he added. (NAN)