JOS – The Geology and Mining class of 1999 set of the University of Jos (UniJos) in Plateau State, has commenced various initiatives in order to widen the horizon of the students, especially in oil and gas industry also an instrumental aspect of their course.
The initiatives included a lecture series where some of the class ’99 alumni were the focal persons who enlightened the students on the practical and field aspect of the course.
Oluwatobi Martins Oke, who spoke on ‘Seismic Mapping and Integrated Field Development’, said Geology and Mining in University of Jos mostly talked about the rocks in Plateau State, but with little knowledge in the oil and gas field which is also core.
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He therefore said there is a gap between the course and the practical field experience, which is what they now want to bridge so that their graduates can be able to compete with their counterparts from other universities like University of Ibadan, University of Portharcourt and the rest, where they focus more on oil and gas.
Oke said their several initiatives to boost the capacity of the students besides the lecture series includes sponsorship of students to relevant conferences, organizing quiz competitions and presentation of awards to the first three students, assisting students with industrial attachment placement, among other things.
“We are class of ’99 set of Geology and Mining department in the University of Jos. We left the institution 25 years ago, and all of us are scattered across the industry, like oil and gas, others are in mining, hydro, real estate and other businesses.
“We are a fully incorporated aluminum class and we have assisted the department in a lot of initiatives which is beneficial, and we have contributed a lot to the academia too, as well as made divers donations in terms of facilities.
“We just deem it fit to bring the industry into the classroom so that the students can benefit from the experience we have gathered.
“Since this is the department that made us who we are, we want to give back to the department in terms of corporate social responsibility initiative. We have therefore brought facilitators to talk about the oil and industry.
“We have noticed that some graduates from the University of Jos, when it comes to competing in some areas in the industry with their counterparts from other schools, they are lagging behind because of the exposure.
“That is why we are bringing the industry into the classroom to equip the students for the future endeavour, adventure and venture into the industry,” he said.
On his part, Aminu Daniel Sani who spoke on ‘Seismic Data Processing, said they are attempting to bring the students up to speed with the real geology world with respect to their own experience in the industry, because there is more to the industry than graduating from school with their certificates and results.
Sani said as a worker in the oil and gas industry, he and his colleagues deemed it fit to give back to the department which gave them the basics into the oil and gas industry journey.
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He explained further that many people are not aware of the importance, marketability of the course even beyond the oil and gas industry, mining and civil engineering, but in different sectors of the economy.
According to him, the course is a natural science that has several benefits, but that students are overlooking it and thinking other science courses have more benefits.
“Geology is a field that if you are going into other natural sciences, it embed courses like physics, biology, chemistry, and it is the embodiment of physical sciences into one. And the areas one can work after graduating from the course are endless, and they include pharmaceutical industry, engineering industry, hydro and water industry, environmental industry, among others.
“So part of our being here is also to disabuse the minds of the students from certain notion, because it is not everyone who studies geology that will work in the oil and gas industry.
“For one, the oil and gas industry contribute about 5% to 10% of the GDP of Nigeria, that means it is not many people that can get the Job in the oil and gas industry.
“And that is not to say it is only the oil and gas industry that your limit lies, as there are vast areas to apply your geology antecedent. Moreover, the world is transiting from fossil fuels economy to a non-fossil fuels and renewable economy, where geologist can also fit in,” he said.
In his welcome speech by the ’99 alumni class President, Bonnat Mathew, said all they are trying to do is to particularly position the final year students of the department for the labour market after graduation.
He said they are giving them the practical knowledge in oil and gas industry, exploration activities, production, seismic, etc, and that the students are very glad to hear from the industry experts who were also like them 25 years ago.
The president said the environment generally upon which the institution and state is sitting is a basement environment and that hydrocarbon is found in sedimentary environment, where graduates of institutions of such environment came from, and they were more familiar with it than them.
Therefore, he said, it was not easy for them to excel in the industry over there, because of the environment where they studied, and had to really work hard to survive the competition out there.
According to him, that is what propelled them to come and bridge the gap for the students who could face similar challenges when they go out there, explaining that when it comes to hard rocks, the Geology students from University of Jos can tell you a lot about it, but when it comes to sedimentary environment they don’t have exposure, as going for field work/study as a student to the southern part of Nigeria is expensive and way beyond the students’ affordability.
The Head of Department, Dr. Raymond Daspan, noted that the entire school and the Vice Chancellor is happy with the initiative of the class of ’99 set, and that the department is so proud of them.
He said the alumni has always stood behind them, and that they knowledge they have passed to the students will equip them for the future, not only in the oil and gas industry, but in other applicable fields.
Meanwhile, he urged the government to get their rhythm and footing right in the oil and gas industry because they are still seeing some challenges and abnormally in the sector, adding that for a country that produces oil, has four refineries, but are not refining oil in the country, it is a thing of great concern.
