FG to redouble achievement of NCDMB, says implementation of NOGICD Act key to Renewed Hope agenda 

Oredola Adeola

The Federal Government has committed to redoubling the achievements of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act 2010 as one of the key levers for actualizing the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), made this known during his tour of NCDMB’s Nigerian Oil and Gas Park Scheme (NOGaPS) facilities at Emeyal 1, in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State on Tuesday.

The Minister revealed that the key mandates of the NCDMB, which are the promotion of in-country value addition in the oil and gas industry, incentivizing local manufacturing in the oil industry, development of human and material capacities, and job creation are major pathways for meeting the key aspirations of the current administration.

According to him, the creation of the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund (NCI Fund) was one of the Board’s most impactful initiatives.

Lokpobiri noted that lack of access to affordable finance is one of the biggest challenges facing emerging players in the oil and gas sector, hinting that the NCI Fund which is administered by the Bank of Industry (BOI) will assist qualified oil and gas companies to access the capital they need to grow, build capacities, and create jobs.

The Minister described the park project as a game changer in the nation’s drive to catalyze in-country manufacturing in the oil and gas and linkage sectors and job creation. He also promised that the Federal Government would support the NCDMB in every possible way to achieve its core mandates.

He said, “Mr. President will do whatever he can to ensure that we achieve a lot more than had been achieved in the past from Nigerian Content. We are happy that Nigerian Content has made very strategic investments geared towards creating jobs.

We need to redouble the achievements of the Board. We hope that NCDMB will help Nigerians to play a much more prominent role in the oil and gas industry.”

Senator Lokpobiri pointed out that indigenous companies have been able to step in and fill the openings created by the ongoing plans by some international oil companies to divest from onshore and shallow waters and move to deep and ultra-offshore operations.

He said, “Nigerian companies are doing very well today, courtesy of the capacity-building strategies that were institutionalized by the NCDMB in the past years,” he asserted.

Engr. Simbi Wabote,  Executive Secretary, NCDMB, in his comment mentioned that the Emeyal- 1 park would be commissioned in the first quarter of 2024.

He attributed the slight delay in the execution schedule to the devastating flooding that hit several states in the second and third quarters of 2022.

Wabote further announced that several manufacturing firms and other vendors had expressed interest in operating at the parks.