TECHNICAL REPORT

ON THE
STUDENT INDUSTRIAL WORK SCHEME (SIWES)
(AUGUST 2014 - JANUARY 2015)
UNDERTAKEN AT
ELEKTRINT (NIGERIA) LIMITED
PLOT11, GBAGADA INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, OFF
OWORONSHOKI-GBAGADA EXPRESS WAY, LAGOS.
BY
OGUNWO DEMILADE TEMITOPE
(100403065)
ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS.

CERTIFICATION
This is to certify that DEMILADE OGUNWO TEMITOPE, a student of the department of
Electrical and Electronics Engineering, University of Lagos with matriculation number
100403065 completed her twenty - two weeks Industrial Training with ELEKTRINT NIGERIA
LIMITED situated at plot 11, Gbagada Industrial estate, off Oworonshoki- Gbagada express way,
Lagos.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am thankful to God for seeing me through the industrial training program. I thank
my family for their love and support all through the training.
Im also grateful to the entire staff of Elektrint Nigeria Limited for providing a
conducive environment for me to learn during the industrial training.
I want to thank my supervisor, Engineer Peter Ojo, for his fatherly love and
support during the training.
I also appreciate my supervisor, Dr. Ayorinde for taking out time to visit me during
the training.

ABSTRACT
The students Industrial work scheme is a valuable program that was initiated by
the Federal Government through the Industrial training fund (ITF), in collaboration
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with the Nigerian University Commission (NUC) and approved by the authority of
the University of Lagos, Akoka. The aim of the SIWES is to create an opportunity
for students of various disciplines in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions to gain
industrial work experience in their chosen fields of study, in relevant industries and
establishments. It also provides students the opportunity to apply theoretical
knowledge in real work situations. This is a great advantage in technical fields such
as Science and Engineering where practical experience goes a long way in
enhancing and improving understanding. All these come together to equip and
update the student with the current trend in the industrial world.

CONTENTS
1.0 Introduction 6 - 11
1.1Company profile
1.2 Services rendered
4

1.3 Overview of Departments in the company

1.4 Organizational structure of Elektrint Nigeria Limited

2.0 Basics of Electrical wiring12 - 17

2.1 Distribution of Electricity
2.2 Methods of installation
2.3 Cable rating
2.4 Protection and Protective devices
2.5 Wiring
2.6 Fire Alarms

3.0 Work description and Experience...18 - 28

3.1 Renovation at Mainstreet Bank Marina
3.2 Wiring of a mechanical workshop
3.3 Rewiring of the 13th floor of UBA Marina building
3.4 Wiring of a block of offices for Horatio Nigeria limited
3.5 Maintenance work for clients and companys staff houses

3.6 Challenges encountered

4.0 Conclusion..29 - 30
4.1 Relevance of training to school work
4.2 Recommendation
4.3 References

List of Tables
Table 1: Projects completed by Elektrint (Nigeria) Limited..10

Table 2: Load test carried out on the three distribution boards on the 13th floor of
Mainstreet bank, Marina.22

1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Company Profile
Elektrint (Nigeria) Limited was incorporated on 29th April, 1976 as a Limited
Liability Company under the Companies Act of 1968, and registered with the
Federal Ministry of Works in Category 'D' (Electrical/Mechanical) to engage in
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Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Design, Installation and Maintenance

works.
Elektrint (Nigeria) Limited is registered as a full member of Federation of Building
and Civil Engineering Contractors in Nigeria.
Elektrint (Nigeria) Limited is also licensed by the Department of Petroleum
Resources (DPR) to render services to the Companies active in the Petroleum field.
In its 39 years of existence, Elektrint has grown from strength to strength,
establishing firm presence throughout the nation including full pledge branch
offices in Abuja and Port Harcourt. Elektrint (Nigeria) Limited is specialized in
Electrical Engineering, plumbing, air conditioning, Water pipelines, Firefighting
and protection, Security Surveillance system and structural pre-fabrication. Under a
policy of Turnkey Service package, Elektrint (Nigeria) Limited strives to satisfy
each client's specific requirements.
In the recent years, the Maintenance Division has considerably expanded their
activities with constant increase in the number of contracts acquired Nationwide.

1.2 Services rendered

The services rendered by the Company include:
1. Design and development of detailed engineering drawings (basic design and shop
drawings for construction and as built).
2. Supply, installation and testing of piping, valves and fittings (PVC, black steel,
galvanized, stainless steel, copper, cast iron).
3. Supply, installation and commissioning of electrical systems (power and control
cables, cable trays, transformers, MCC and distribution boards, control panels,
lighting system, alarm and firefighting system, lighting and earthling systems,
wiring devices).
4. Supply, installation and commissioning of mechanical plants (pumps, tanks,
equipment, sanitary wares and firefighting items).
5. Supply and erection of steel structure.
6. Supply, erection and commissioning of HVAC equipment (Air handling unit, air
conditioning unit, split units, fans, grilles and louvers, damper, filters).
7. Supply, pre-fabrication and installation of HVAC ducting, including insulation.
8. Facility management.
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Elektrint Nigeria Limited provides a complete range of resources to cover the needs
of the modern management of wide projects, which include:

Financial and commercial management

Design and engineering office

Planning and project coordination

Purchase department from local and international market

Worldwide assistance in selecting and importing goods from abroad through an

overseas sister company.

Importing section for custom clearance

Works management

Works execution with own qualified manpower

Subcontractors management

Storing facilities

Workshop facilities

Elektrint has a broad range of clients which include: Snima Nigeria Limited, UBA,
Union bank, Sokoto cement, PHCN, Fidelity bank, Diamond bank, Lagos state,
Schlumberger, DTV, Nigerian Bottling Company PLC, TOTAL, ADDAX
Petroleum, UPDC, Provast limited, TEXACO, Nigeria Agip oil company, Afri
projects Consortium and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company
(SNEPCO).

Some of the companys completed projects are listed in the table below:

CLIENT
1 Lagos State

PROJECTS
Street lighting Ajah to Badore road.
Rural Electrification (Opeta).

2 Nigeria Agip oil company

Agip depot Apapa Electrification of truck parking lot

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Supply of Electrical Materials.

Supply of Distribution 1500kva transformer.
3 Nigerian National Petroleum Dismantling and relocation of 1340 KVA Power plant from
Corporation
NNPC Falomo.
Load and Power Sharing between 1365KVA and 1275KVA
MTU generating sets at NNPC.
Electro-mechanical servicing
4 Shell Nigeria Exploration and Maintenance of FMH aluminum window for SNEPCo.
Production Company
National Towers Refurbishment Marina Shell Petroleum
development Company.
Refurbishment of 11th floor - National Towers for SNEPCo
5 Diamond Bank

Electrical installation at diamond bank Dopemu, Lagos.

Electrical installation at diamond bank, Ketu, Lagos.

6 TEXACO

Tank farm rehabilitation.

Supply and installation of split a/c units.
Installation of gen. set.

7 Nigerian Bottling Company

Supply and Installation of 4-Pole Change-Over Switch for

NBC Owerri Plant.
NBC Ikeja Plant, Lagos cabling of new main.
Supply & Installation of electrical panel to Abuja plant
Supply & installation of cable to panel.
Lighting works at existing & new spare parts store at NBC
Ikeja plant B.
Lighting installation at NBC Plant, Port Harcourt.

8 GlaxoSmithKline Nigeria plc

Supply and installation of 11KV Panel and 1000KVA

transformer for Glaxosmithkline- Agbara Green Project,
2004.
Electro-mechanical Installation at Agbara Green Project
Demolition and finishing works to laboratory..
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Table1: Table showing the projects completed by Elektrint (Nigeria) Limited.

1.3 Overview of the Departments in the Company

Elektrint (Nigeria) Limited has various departments or sections which include; the store,
financial department, human resources department, AutoCAD department, security unit and
the maintenance section.
I worked in the maintenance section. The maintenance section is responsible for all
installations on site and also for facility management. Under the maintenance section is the
electrical unit, plumbing unit, welding unit and the A.C unit. I worked in the electrical unit
in the maintenance section.

1.4 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF ELEKTRINT

NIGERIA LIMITED

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2.0

BASICS OF ELECTRICAL WIRING

2.1 Distribution of Electricity

Electricity is supplied to a building by a supply authority, for example IKEDC in Lagos.
The incoming cable to a building may be a 120 or 150mm square PVC insulated cable and
the current flowing along it must be divided between a number of smaller cables to be
taken to the various final destinations throughout the building. In the wiring of a building, it
is economic and more practical to divide the supply first over a few large cables and then
into the final small cables in a second step. . The protection devices in the distribution
board protect the final circuits, but the sub main cable also needs protection against short
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circuits and overloads, and there must be a fuse or other protective device at the main
intake.
The total incoming current must be divided to go to several switch fuses, and the simplest
device for distributing current from one incoming cable to a number of outgoing ones is a
bus bar chamber. This consists of a number of copper bars held on insulating spacers inside
a steel case. It is not normally permissible to protect a cable with a fuse rated at more than
the maximum current carrying capacity of the cable.
Another matter which requires attention in the intake room is metering. If it is a small
enough supply, the whole of it can be taken through the meter. The arrangement then is that
the incoming cable goes first to a fuse which is supplied, fixed and sealed by the electricity
company, and from there to the meter, which is also supplied and fixed by the electricity
company. The fuse is the electricity companys service cut out and it is sealed so that only
they have access to it. From the meter, the cable is connected to the bus bar chamber.
It is usual to have an incoming isolator or switch fuse which both protects the board against
short circuits and makes it possible to isolate the board for maintenance. Standard
distribution boards usually have 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 18 or 24 fuse ways/circuit breakers. Both
single and three-phase boards are available, the latter having three fuse ways/circuit
breakers for each outgoing circuit. It is not necessary to utilize all the available fuse
ways/circuit breakers on a board, and in fact it is very desirable to leave several spare ways
on each board for future extensions, although the sizing of the cable supplying the board
must be capable of supplying the additional load. Trunkings and conduits also need to be
sized with future extensions in mind. A label is provided inside the cover of every
distribution board stating which fuse serves which outlets.
The position of distribution boards within a building depends on the plan of the building.
Apart from architectural considerations, it is a matter of balancing the lengths of sub-mains
and the lengths of final circuits to find the most economical way of keeping the total
voltage drop between intake and final outlet to a minimum. It is possibly better to keep submains long and final circuits short, but it is also desirable to keep the number of distribution
boards down by having a reasonably high number of final circuits on each board.

2.2 Methods of installation

To the average user the only important part of the electricity service is the outlets at which
he receives electricity. To the engineer concerned with designing or installing the service,
the system of cables which links these outlets to each other and to the supply coming into
the building is just as important and perhaps even more so.
One of the commonest methods of installing cables is the conduit method. In a conduit
system the cables are drawn into tubing called conduit. The conduit can be galvanized steel
or plastic. The different sizes of conduit are identified by their nominal bore and in the case
of electrical conduit the nominal bore is always the same as the outside diameter of the
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tube. Electrical conduit is specially annealed so that it may be readily bent or set without
breaking, splitting or kinking.
A conduit system must be completely installed before any cables are pulled into it. It is,
therefore, essential that it is set out so that an electrician can pull cables into it without
difficulty. Conduit systems are intended to be rewirable; that is to say the intention is that
20 or 30 years after the building has been erected, it should still be possible to pull all the
cables out of the conduit and pull new ones into it.
To achieve re-wireability, draw-in boxes must be accessible from the surface, that is, their
covers must be flush with the finished surface. In addition, the length of conduit between
successive draw-in boxes should not exceed about 10m and there should not be more than
two right-angle bends between successive boxes. Care must be taken in the making of
bends to avoid rippling or flattening of the conduit. It is advisable for the conduit to have
plenty of spare capacity for the number of cables to be drawn into it, for bends to be very
easy and for there to be plenty of draw-in boxes. When buried conduit has to feed surface
distribution boards or switches, the conduit must be brought into a flush recessed box so
that the cables enter the surface board or switch through the back.
Most buildings larger than a single dwelling have a three-phase supply, although nearly all
the equipment in them is single phase. Although the regulations allow one to run television
and telephone cables in the same conduit, provided that the lower voltage circuits are
insulated for the highest voltage present, it is better not to do so.
The cables are drawn into the conduit with the help of a steel tape and a draw cable. Pulling
cable through conduit is a job for electrician and mate. One pushes the steel tape with the
draw cable attached to it from one draw-in box to the next: as soon as the tape appears at
the receiving box, the other takes it and pulls gently from that end. In hot weather, the
insulation of the cables is liable to become soft and tacky. Drawing it through the conduit
may be made easier by rubbing French chalk on the cables. In other circumstances, when
friction between the cables and the conduit is high and makes pulling in difficult, it may be
advantageous to apply a thin coating of grease or tallow wax to the cables.
Where a large number of cables has to be run together, it is often convenient to put them in
trunking. To put cables in trunking one normally takes the lid off, lays the cables in and
replaces the lid. Being so much larger than conduit, trunking can quite clearly not be buried
in the walls of a building.

2.3 Cable rating

An important part of any electrical design is the determination of the size of cables. The
size of cable to be used in a given circuit is governed by the current which the circuit has to
carry, so the design problem is to decide the size of cable needed to carry a known current.
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A conductor carrying a current is bound to have some losses due to its own resistance.
These losses appear as heat and will raise the temperature of the insulation. The current the
cable can carry is limited by the temperature to which it is safe to raise the insulation. Heat
loss from the surface is by radiation and conduction and depends on the closeness of other
cables and on how much covering or shielding there is between the cable and the open
atmosphere. Thus the heat loss and, therefore, the equilibrium temperature reached depends
on how the cable is installed; that is to say whether it is in trunking, or conduit, on an
exposed surface, how close to other cables, and so on.
Every cable which may be subject to overload, short circuit, or earth fault, must be
protected against overload and/or short circuit. A generic term is overcurrent, which is any
current that exceeds the rated value of current-carrying capacity of the cable. The
overcurrent may be caused by
(a) An overload, which is an overcurrent occurring in a circuit that is electrically sound.
(b) A short circuit, which is an overcurrent between live conductors having a potential
between them in normal circumstances, due to a fault of negligible impedance between
them.
(c) An earth fault.
The commonest conductor used in cables is copper. The only other conductor used is
aluminum, but aluminum is weaker, cheaper and lighter than copper. 1mm square has a
solid core, 1.5mm Square and 2.5mm Square are available as solid or stranded core; sizes
above these are available as stranded core only. Every conductor must be insulated to keep
them apart, keep the flow of current within the conductor and prevent its leaving or leaking
from the conductor at random along its length. The following types of insulation are in use:
thermoplastic PVC, glass, paper, air, rubber and flexible cord.

2.4 Protection and Protective devices

Electricity is dangerous and can cause accidents, if not treated with respect. A large part of
any system design is concerned with ensuring that accidents will not happen, or that if they
do, their effects will be limited. Choice of accessories, selection of cables and their correct
sizing, the arrangement of outlets on a number of separate circuits and the proper ways of
installing cables with protection should all be taken seriously in the system design. The
general principle of protection is that a faulty circuit should be cut off from the supply and
isolated until the fault can be found and repaired. The protective device must detect that
there is a fault and must then isolate the part of the installation in which it has detected the
fault.
If through a fault in the wiring or in an appliance the line or phase and neutral conductors
become connected, the current that flows is limited only by the sum of the resistance of the
cables of the permanent wiring and the impedance of the accidental contact between the
two cables, the latter generally being regarded as negligible. If the fault connecting the line
and neutral has negligible impedance the two conductors are effectively short circuited. A
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short circuit current is at a high temperature and can burn the insulation in the appliance
and lead to a fire or electric shock to anyone touching the appliance. For example; while
connecting the light fittings in the mechanical workshop, I mistakenly connected the neutral
wire to the earth (casing) and vice versa. This caused an electric shock whenever I touched
the casing of the fitting till I corrected the problem.
If the fault that connects the line and neutral has some impedance the current flowing
through the fault and conductors is less than the current in a short circuit of negligible
impedance. When an overcurrent is flowing in a circuit, which is electrically sound, it is
described as an overload. A fault to earth occurs if through some defect the line conductor
becomes connected to earthed metalwork.

Protective devices

Rewirable fuses or cut outs: it consists of a thin fuse cable held between
terminals in a porcelain or Bakelite holder. The fuse is designed so that if the
current exceeds the rated current of the circuit the fuse cable melts and
interrupts the circuit.

Cartridge fuse or HRC (high rupturing capacity fuse): The rewirable fuse
has limited breaking capacity. But in the cartridge fuse, the fuse element is
mounted between two end caps which form the terminals of the complete fuse
link. The fuse element is surrounded by closely packed silica filler and the
whole is contained in a ceramic casing. When the fuse element melts, or blows,
the silica filler absorbs the energy.

Both rewirable and cartridge fuses work in a similar way. The current heats the fuse
element until the latter melts, after which there is an arc between the ends of the broken
element, and finally the arc extinguishes and the circuit is completely interrupted. An
alternative to a fuse element which melts when overheated is a circuit breaker. Therefore
fuses and CBs react to short circuits and thus provide protection against their consequences.

2.5 Wiring
The final outlets of the electrical system in a building are lighting points, socket outlets and fixed
equipment. The wiring to each of these comes from an excess current protection device (fuse or
circuit breaker) in a distribution board. The fuse or CB must be large enough to carry the largest
steady current ever taken at any one instant by the whole of the equipment on that final circuit. It
15

is unusual to have a fuse of more than 45A in a final distribution board in domestic premises. The
cables normally used for final circuits are 1.5mm square, 2.5mm square and 6.0mm square,
according to the nature of the circuit. Lighting is almost invariably carried out in 1.5mm square
cable and power circuits to socket outlets in 2.5mm square. 6.0mm and 10mm square cable is
used for circuits to cookers, instantaneous water heaters, showers, and other large current-using
equipment, such as machine tools in workshops. For factories with heavier machinery,
distribution boards with 60A or 100A fuses or CBs can be used, with correspondingly larger
cables. There is no longer any need to have different outlets for different classes of appliance
with the creation of the 13 amps socket outlet. The appliance is then protected by the fuse in its
plug.
A ring circuit with socket outlets for 13A fused plugs cabled in 2.5mm square PVC cable and
protected by a fuse or circuit breaker rated at 30A or 32A can serve any number of outlets but the
floor area covered must not be more than 100m square which is equivalent to 6 commercial or 8
domestic socket outlets. A radial circuit for this type of outlet can serve a floor area of 20mm
square if it is cabled in 2.5mm square cable and protected by any type of fuse or circuit breaker
rated at20A. Any number of fused spurs may be taken from any of these three circuits, but the
number of unfused spurs is limited to the number of socket outlets on the circuit. As soon as
more than two or three socket outlets are to be supplied, it is more economical to serve them
from ring circuits than from radial ones.
A ring circuit is one which forms a closed ring; it starts at one of the ways of a distribution board,
runs to a number of outlets one after another, and returns to the distribution board it started from.
A circuit which runs only from the fuse way to the outlets it serves without returning to the fuse
is called a radial circuit. In housing, it is standard practice to put all the socket outlets on one
floor of a house on one circuit. Consideration is given to a separate circuit for a domestic
kitchen. A cooker, whether served through a control switch or through a cooker control unit,
should be on a circuit of its own. Two cookers in the same room may be on a single circuit
provided its rating does not exceed 50A. It is usually necessary to have several lights on one
circuit with each light controlled by its own switch.

2.6 Fire Alarms

A fire alarm circuit sounds an alarm in the event of a fire. The alarm points can be operated
manually or automatically; in the latter case they may be sensitive to heat, smoke or ionization.
The external circuitry is similar whether the control panel consists of electronic components or
electromechanical relays.
In the simplest scheme, several alarm points are connected in parallel, and whenever one of them
is actuated the circuit is completed and the alarm sounds. This is described as an open circuit,
and it will be seen that it is not fail-safe, because if there is a failure of supply, the fire alarm
16

cannot work. Another characteristic of this circuit is that every alarm point must be capable of
carrying the full current taken by all the bells or hooters working together. An end-of-line resistor
placed at the remote end of the break-glass points or detectors allows a monitoring current to
flow so that any breaks in the wiring can be detected by the cessation of a current flow.
In a slightly more elaborate scheme the alarm points are connected in series with each other and
with a relay coil. The relay is normally closed when de-energized, and opens when the coil is
energized. Thus when an alarm point is activated the relay coil is de-energized, the relay closes
and the alarm sounds. The system fails safe to the extent that if the coil circuit fails the main
circuit operates the alarm. It is not of course safe against total failure of the supply because in
that event there is no supply available to work the bells. The alarm points do not have to carry
the operating current of the bells or hooters. This arrangement is called a closed circuit.
The wiring of a fire alarm installation follows exactly the same principles as any other wiring,
but greater consideration has to be given to the protection of the cables and to their ability to
withstand fire damage. Cables used in fire alarm systems fall into two general categories. In
group 1, cables are not required to operate after the fire has been detected; in group 2, cables are
required to operate after the fire has been detected. It is obviously necessary for a fire alarm to go
on working for quite some time after a fire has started. The wiring of group 2 must, therefore, be
entirely separate from any other wiring. In conduit or trunking systems, it should be segregated
from all other services and run in conduit or trunking of its own. It must be able to withstand
high temperature, which in practice means that it is MICC. The supply to the fire alarm must also
be separate from any other supply and this at the very least means that it must be fed from its
own circuit breaker or switch at the main service entry into the building.

3.0 WORK DESCRIPTION AND EXPERIENCE

During my industrial training period at Elektrint Nigeria Limited, I worked in the
maintenance department. The maintenance department was divided into:
The electrical unit
The welding unit
The AC unit
The mechanical unit

I had a working experience in the electrical unit only during my stay at the company. I
worked on two major projects during the course of the industrial training. I also participated
towards the end of a renovation project at Mainstreet Bank Marina and at the beginning of
17

the rewiring of one of the floors of the UBA, marina building along with other minor repair
projects.

3.1 Renovation at Mainstreet Bank Marina

Our company was awarded the contract of replacing and repairing all the electrical
accessories at Mainstreet Bank Marina. I joined in on the project towards the end, which
was the beginning of my SIWES training. We installed electrical fittings on every floor in
the 17 storey building asides 2 of the floors, and ensured the other electrical accessories
such as the switches and sockets were all functioning well.
My industrial based supervisor and I carried out load tests on three of the floors after the
installations were over, to ensure that the circuits were not over loaded. We also inspected
the work done, to check for errors that might have occurred during the installations.

3.2 Wiring of a mechanical workshop

A mechanical workshop was built for the welding and mechanical department in the
company as an extension of the companys building. The electrical unit of the maintenance
department handled the wiring of this workshop. Being an inside job, there was no specific
engineering drawing given to the electrical engineer assigned to the project, but from
experience he marked out the design and electrical accessories needed in wiring the
workshop, which is the first stage of the project.
Next, we requested for the materials needed from the companys store and conveyed them
to the site. The materials we used include:
1.

Pattress box

2.

20mm PVC pipes.

3. 20mm and 25mm square corrugated pipes.

4. Insulation tape.
5. Fisher peg.
6. 3-phase distribution board.
7. Single phase distribution board.
8. Cable gland.
9. U-box, Y-box, end box, through box, 3 way box and 4 way box.
10. Coupler.
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11. Saddle clip.

12. Male bush.
13. Cable lug.
14. Bolt, washer and nut.
15. Change over switch box.
16. Gear switch box.
17. Cut outs.
18. Bus bar box.
19. 2.5mm square cables (red, green and black)
20. 1.5mm square cables (red, green and black).
21. 4mm square cables (red, green and black).
22. 4 core 16mm square cable.
23. 4 core 35mm square cable.
24. One gang one way switches.
25. 3-gang switches.
26. 15 A sockets
27. Single and double 13A sockets.
28. Industrial sockets.
29. Fluorescent fittings.
30. Fluorescent tubes and Incandescent bulbs.

The work was done in stages as we worked hand in hand with the bricklayers on the site.
After the workshop was erected, the electrical engineer marked out the positions of the
electrical accessories in the building.

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Next, we chiseled out the marked positions and laid the pattress boxes and PVC pipes.
After laying them we patched the pattress boxes with cement to hold them firmly in their
positions and used a spirit level to ensure that they were fixed properly, that is, not tilting or
bent. When the cement was dry, we blocked all the pattress boxes with old newspapers and
bent the ends of the PVC pipes to avoid cement entering them during the plastering of the
walls.

After about 3 weeks, we returned to the site, to start the wiring. Using a fishing tape and
insulation tape, we drew wires from the socket outlets, switches and lighting points to the
distribution board and terminated them afterwards. The workshop had 3 rooms, 2 were
offices and the third was the lube bay. Then we laid the pipe and wire for the supply cables

20

feeding the workshop and the office building at the back of the workshop. After doing that,
we did the connection of the cut outs to the changeover switch and gear switch box.

21

22

The next phase was the laying of the corrugated pipes from the workshop to the security
post to supply the single phase distribution board there. Then we rewired the part of the
main office building that was converted to toilets, bathrooms and a changing room for the
workers. After doing that we installed the sockets, light fittings and switches in all the
rooms we had worked in. Then we tested the work we had done so far using the generator.

23

I and another IT student were assigned to do the wiring of the security lights in the compound.
The last stage of the work was the rewiring of the ground and first floors in the office
building behind the workshop. We also made extension of sockets by spurring off from the
ones there in 2 of the rooms in the building.

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The Electrical Engineer which was my supervisor supervised the work from time to time to
ensure we were working according to his instructions and that the project was completed
successfully in due time.

3.3 Rewiring of the 13th floor of UBA Marina building

Elektrint Nigeria was awarded another contract by UBA Marina to rewire the 13th floor of
their building. Unlike the work done at the mechanical workshop, there was a detailed
drawing for this project. First the Engineer in charge of the project, 2 other technicians and
I inspected the floor to access the kind of the work that was to be done. We took note of the
number of chillers and isolators that were formerly on the floor and also checked if the
distribution boards had been tampered with.
After we were awarded the contract, we removed the remaining accessories that were not
useful, such as sockets and trunking. Next using the drawing we began to mark out the
position of the electrical fittings using a ladder and a pencil. We took measurements from
the drawing using a ruler whose scale was proportional or the same as that on the drawing.
I did not finish working on this project as I was needed on the mechanical workshop site.

3.4 Wiring of a block of offices for Horatio Nigeria Limited

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The last project I participated in was the wiring of one of the companys subsidiary companies,
which is Horatio Nigeria Limited. A block of offices were built for them to provide more space
for their employees that previously shared offices with Elektrint staff.
A sketch was provided to describe the work to be done but the standard is a detailed electrical
design. Unlike the wiring we did in the workshop, we laid corrugated pipes for the data and
telephone cables in each of the offices. In addition to the socket outlets on the walls, we also
made provision for floor socket outlets.

The process followed on this site was basically the same as that of the work done in the
mechanical workshop. First we marked out the positions of the electrical accessories in each
room, then we chiseled the marked out section of the wall and laid corrugated pipes and pattress
boxes in them, patching them immediately with cement to hold them firmly in the wall.

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I wasnt able to finish the work on this project, as the period for my industrial training did not
permit me to do so.

3.5 Maintenance work for clients and companys staff

houses
Besides working on the previous projects, I also participated in maintaining the
electrical facilities in the company staff houses and for some of their clients. One of the major
routine tests we carry out for our clients is Load test. A load test ensures that the line current or
current in each phase is not above 100A, the line to neutral voltage is between 220 -230 V and
the line to line voltage was not above 415V.Below is a table showing the readings for a Load test
carried out on the 13th floor of Main street bank.
Distribution board 1
I1 = 0.00

V1N = 220.0

V2V1 = 415.3

V3V1= 400.0

I2 = 60.00

V1V2 = 415.0

V2N = 230.0

V3V2 = 419.5

I3 = 35.00

V1V3 = 415.0

V2V3 = 420.0

V3N = 400.0

Distribution board 2
I1 = 90.9

V1N = 225.0

V2V1 = 415.0

V3V1 = 419.5

I2 = 4.90

V1V2 = 414.9

V2N = 420.0

V3V2 = 421.0

I3 = 50.60

V1V3 = 412.1

V2V3 = 400.0

V3N = 220.0

Distribution board 3
I1 = 0.90

V1N = 230.6

V2V1 = 415.3

V3V1 = 415.0

I2 = 98.20

V1V2 = 400.0

V2N = 230.5

V3V2 = 415.0

I3= 56.00

V1V3 =41500

V2V3 = 420.0

V3N = 230.0

Table 2: Table showing the result of the Load test carried out on the three distribution boards on
the 13th floor of Mainstreet bank, Marina.

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Other maintenance work I participated in include:

1. Installing and connection of the changeover switch and gear switch box in a newly rented
apartment at Agbara.
2. Wiring of the security post and the assembling of fans in a staff house at Agbara.
3. Wiring of additional security lights in a staff house at Parkview estate in Ikoyi.
4. Repair of faulty meat slicing machine at MDs house in Ikoyi.
5. Replacement of spoilt pumping machine at MDs house and a staff house in Ilupeju.
6. Wiring and installation of additional socket outlets for additional air conditioners in a
staff house at Ilupeju.
7. Changing of bad light fittings, water heater switch and burnt circuit breakers at a staff
house in Lekki.
8. Rewiring of sockets and lighting points in three rooms in a staff house at Anthony.
9. Routine check, load tests and general repair of light fittings and all other electrical
accessory for one of our clients; Inchscape architects.

The tools we made use of include:

1. Set of screwdrivers.
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2. Drilling machine.
3. Hammer and chisel.
4. Clamp meter.
5. Saw blade.
6. Hack saw.
7. Bending spring.
8. Fishing tape.
9. Spanner.
10. Pliers.
11. Spirit Level.

3.6 Challenges encountered

Language barrier
I had difficulty in communicating with the technicians in my department in the first few weeks of
work as most of them spoke Yoruba and could not communicate fluently in English. With time I
adapted to speaking Yoruba and pidgin which helped a lot with my relationship with the workers.

Small office space

Due to lack of proper planning by the company, the office space given to the maintenance is
quite small compared to the number of people working in the department. Though the members
of this department are usually on site, the company ought to provide a bigger and more
conducive environment for them to relax extensively when they are around.

Shortage of Vehicles
There was shortage of vehicles in the running of the maintenance department as only 2 vehicles
were assigned to the department. Sometimes, we had to use the cars of some of the employees,
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especially when we had different clients to attend to or different sites to visit. This factor slowed
down work process at times.

Lack of modern equipment

Tools needed for troubleshooting like console cables, crimping tools, etc. were not readily
available, most of the tools used were personal belongings of the engineers involved or even
borrowed sometimes.

Gender Limitation
Due to the nature of the work done by the company, it has a very high percentage of males,
especially in the maintenance department. This is because the work done mostly involve manual
labor which can be done better by the males. I wasnt allowed to do much work at the beginning
because of this, till I showed interest in participating actively in all that was done on the various
sites.

4.0 CONCLUSION
4.1 Relevance of work done
The SIWES helped create a bridge between theory and practice. It also helped me develop
ethics, communication, interpersonal skills and industrial safety practices through my interaction
with the members of staff.
Through the SIWES training, I can relate easily with the power courses Im offering this
semester. They include:

EEG 501 Power Systems Economics and Operations.

EEG 511 Power System Analysis.

I was also able to build on the knowledge I acquired in the following courses:

EEG 201 Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering I.

EEG 210 Electrical Engineering materials.

EEG 309 Measurement and Instrumentation.

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4.2 Recommendation

4.3

The Department and University should assist students in securing IT

placements.

Students should ensure they attend the SIWES orientation program before
embarking on their training.

The University should ensure that students are adequately monitored during the
program.

References

Elektrint (Nigeria) safety handbook

Design of Electrical services for buildings by Barrie Rigby

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