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IIW Member SAIW hosted an NDT training course for a group of students from across
Africa, supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
EMERGING NATIONS
Through NIW’s prominent role as a leader in the attainment of welding technologies
it was well positioned to take on the responsibility of becoming a ‘champion’ for the
development of welding expertise and technology diffusion in the region. Ideally placed
geographically, at the centre of the oil and gas industry in the Niger Delta, NIW was able to
source funding through partnerships with the United Nations and other stakeholders, such
as Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), to set up a NIW Centre of Excellence
in Welding which, when fully operational, was to provide a full range of facilities in the
region, including research, weld testing, non-destructive testing and training.
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Nigeria’s first IIW International Congress was scheduled to be held in the Niger
Delta but because of security problems it was shifted to Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, which
underlined the always-present problems that African countries could
experience when putting together events of this nature. Mr Robert
Shaw (USA) was to graphically illustrate the true meaning of
this when a core group from IIW, including Ms Anne Rorke
(Australia) and Mr Ernest Levert (USA), climbed into their
transport vehicle. Two heavily armed guards then occupied the
rear. Shaw echoed everyone’s thoughts at the time – ‘What have
we got ourselves into?’
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In willingly taking on the role of ‘champion’ for the
West Africa region NIW, through its forthright President,
Dr Solomon Iyobosa Edebiri, was to establish the West
African Welding Federation (WAWF) with five countries
as pioneer members, in addition to acting as the ‘midwife’
Solomon Edebiri