Nairaland users:

Thank you all for your interest in PAWA 774. It has come to our attention that there is a lot of speculation about our company, which we would like to address at this time for all who are willing to engage in a civilized conversation. 

Please note: while a healthy amount of questioning is permissible and even welcome, it is never all right to libel the name of honest employees and consultants of PAWA 774, who work with passion and dedication to the development of a better Nigeria.

If you have questions about PAWA 774, please address them to the right channels.  We have dedicated people who are happy to respond to your questions at press@pawa774.com.  Due the volume of emails we receive daily, it may be up to 48 hours before you get a response, but be rest assured that you will get a response.

Some parties have been offended and, indeed, scandalized by the PAWA 774 smart test fee policy. We believe this is, in part, because they do not have enough information at this time and so we would like to introduce some facts.

1. PAWA 774 is a privately-owned, privately-run organization.  Though our initiative is recognised by the Federal Government’s renewable energy program under the Ministry of Environment, PAWA 774 is not a government organization, and we do not receive government funding at this time. 

2. PAWA 774 is a newly-branded limited liability company registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission.  We have liaison offices in Abuja and Lagos, listed on our website at www.pawa774.com, as well as a proposed permanent address in Ondo State where we will make our headquarters, also listed on the website.

3. Folusho Odegbaike, whose name is signed to all PAWA 774 career correspondence, is the principal human resources consultant at PAWA 774, and responsible for expertly coordinating the many applicants that we receive daily. She has a master’s degree in from the University of Lagos and has been a human resources professional for many years.

4. Some have claimed that PAWA 774 does not have a mission or vision.  PAWA 774 has four clearly stated quantitative goals on the home page of its website, each of which are expanded upon at pawa774.com/our-goals. If these do not count as a mission or a vision, we do not know what else would. These are goals against which we may be measured by anyone prepared to monitor our progress over the next five years. We have chosen to make them public because we want to hold ourselves accountable to the Nigerian people, and for Nigerians also to see the part they play in the development of our country.

5. The smart test fee is NOT a scam.  It may be viewed as unorthodox to some, and scandalous to many others, but fraudulent it is NOT. Accusing the company of committing fraud is tantamount to libel, and that is an actual crime.

6. The minimum qualification for getting a PAWA 774 position is a secondary school education; therefore we anticipate a large turnout of applicants once we begin advertising our recruitment to the general public. We cannot afford to train everybody, and so we have chosen to train only those who meet our basic expectations as determined by our psychometric computer-based test. We are all aware that the Nigerian educational system, unfortunately, has been unable to provide the expected quality of graduates required for this type of work. Hence we can only rely on these standardized test results for the selection of people we will train.

7. The smart test is just the beginning of a process, and the only step that requires Nigerians to invest their own money in themselves. In exchange for N3000, PAWA 774 will train every applicant who passes the smart test completely free for four weeks.

8. Every trainee graduate will receive certification from the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN), which will qualify them to work anywhere in the power sector in Nigeria. You may explore the NAPTIN website to find out how much it would cost to receive this certification directly from them.

9. This training will be 100% free for everyone who has passed the smart test and will be provided onsite throughout Nigeria, in various local government areas. PAWA 774 has established partnerships with NAPTIN and the Renewable Energy Training Institute (RETI), which allows us to provide world-class training in renewable energy systems completely free. The training workshops will provide previously unemployed Nigerians with an opportunity to attain knowledge and excellence in a very technical field, as well as national certification and technical qualifications that will allow them to be recruitable by the community-based businesses which will form the bedrock of the PAWA 774 initiative.

10. Successful trainees will be employed under the PAWA 774 initiative and will be the foot soldiers in our unique solution to Nigeria’s dilapidated power sector.

11. With just this project, we will have made a significant contribution to reducing wide-scale national unemployment, currently at 25%! By the end of five years, nearly one million Nigerians will have been hired directly by PAWA 774, and several more millions will have jobs created as a result of the work we are trying to do now. The public will be able to track our progress toward this goal at www.pawa774.com.

12. Contrary to popular opinion, the PAWA 774 training workshops have already been tried and tested in Ondo State, during a pilot program launched in 2010 and conducted by one of our working partners, TechVille.  Over 100 previously unemployed youth were recruited, trained and a number were subsequently employed by TechVille, using the same methods that will now be deployed for PAWA 774 and implemented on a national scale. 

All are welcome to visit Ondo and explore the renewable energy systems that were installed by Nigerians trained by TechVille and to have conversations with any of the 100+ employees who went through this scheme from beginning to end.  Very shortly, we will post testimonials from TechVille graduates on our website and enable you to have an open conversation with one or more of them online.

13. Projects conducted under TechVille include:
  a. February-November 2011: Off-grid Solar Power Farms completed for:
       i. Alagbaka, Akure (Ondo State Government Secretariat)
      ii. Okitipupa (ultra-modern market)
     iii. Ikare (ultra-modern market)
     iv. Ondo (Gani-Fawehinmi Diagnostic Centre)
      v. Isinkan, Akure (ultra-modern market)
     vi. Akure (International Auto Mart)
  b. February 2011: Energy Audit of the American University of Nigeria (AUN) campus, Yola.
  c. September 2011: Energy Audit of 4 South-South communities in Rivers State in partnership with Shell Nigeria.

14. Gaining employment with any organization is not an overnight process, and PAWA 774 will be no exception. It will take time to recruit enough applicants in each region in order to schedule the smart tests, organize each applicant into his or her relevant training workshop modules and subsequently employ eligible trainees.  But it will happen.  It has happened before and there are living human beings in Ondo who can attest to these events in their lives. Governor Mimiko and other members of the Ondo State government can attest to these events.

Over the next two weeks, we will update our website to capture more information based on the many, many questions we have received from the general public in the weeks since we re-opened recruitment.

We are aiming for excellence and we welcome all constructive feedback and criticism. Incendiary comments and written abuse will not get a response. 

We have provided a channel through which you may receive answers to your questions at press@pawa774.com.  Please use it.  Over the next couple of days, there will be an FAQ section added to the website.  Please read it. 

If you have had any troubles whatsoever with your application, you are encouraged to read the instructions posted on the PAWA 774 website carefully. Most errors in the process are caused by a lack of careful consideration of the information provided. If you have followed the instructions clearly, and are still having problems, you may send an email to careers@pawa774.com.  You are assured of a response within 2 business days.

We are also very active on Facebook and Twitter.  If you would like to receive up-to-date information on PAWA 774, please follow us on those two platforms. We cannot address all complaints on those platforms, but you will be pointed in the right direction and you will receive help for your problem.

Best regards,
Mariam Gidado
press@pawa774.com