The National Institute of Welding on Thursday called for sustained national awareness and campaigns to reposition welding as a respected and valuable profession in Nigeria.

The president of the NIW, Solomon Edebiri, made the call in an interview. Mr Edebiri said that welding had previously been misunderstood and wrongly perceived as a profession for school dropouts.

He said for many years, welders were not considered relevant in society as individuals, adding that this perception was harmful to national development.

According to him, stakeholders have worked to change the narrative by promoting welding as a technical profession that contributes significantly to national growth.

“The institute has received support from relevant organisations and stakeholders to promote the profession and create renewed interest among young Nigerians.

“Collaboration with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board helped in driving a new direction for technical training and manpower development. The federal government also supported the effort by approving capacity-building programmes that exposed Nigerians to international welding standards,’’ he said.

According to him, the programme involved overseas career training in countries such as Turkey, France and South Africa.

Mr Edebiri said that the programmes’ outcomes strengthened local capacity and triggered a nationwide training drive to improve awareness and technical competence.

He said the institute, in partnership with state governments, had carried out training programmes across the country and supported the establishment of training centres.

The NIW president said that the institute also worked with universities and other institutions to encourage the creation of welding coordination departments.

He stressed that increased awareness was already yielding positive results, with more Nigerians beginning to appreciate welding as a profession of high relevance.

According to him, welding should be recognised as a technical career essential to industrial development, noting that its contribution is comparable to that of other critical professions.

He also disclosed that the institute recently concluded a training programme in partnership with the International Science Foundation.

Mr Edebiri expressed optimism that continued investment in training and awareness would further strengthen Nigeria’s technical workforce and expand opportunities for youths.

(NAN)