Says Nigerian content crucial to Nigeria’s devt
From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
President Bola Tinubu is very serious about his promise to ensure business thrive in Nigeria, says the Minister of State Petroleum (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri.
Lokpobiri who stated this while on a tour of Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) facilities and projects in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State declared that effective implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act 2010 is one of the key levers for actualizing Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda.
According to him 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 President Tinubu led administration.
He commended the board’s Executive Secretary, Engr Simbi Kesiye Wabote and the management of the Board for a sterling performance, stressing that the creation of the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund (NCI Fund) was as one of the Board’s most impactful initiatives.
Commenting after he toured the Nigerian Oil and Gas Park Scheme (NOGaPS) at Emeyal 1, in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, 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 promised that the Federal Government would support the NCDMB in every possible way to achieve its core mandates.
“This will be a game changer; the APC government made a promise to Nigeria that we are going to create an opportunity for businesses to thrive. When this is completed, this industrial park will be a game changer.
On the divestment by some international oil companies, Lokpobiri allayed fears of noticeable gaps in the oil and gas industry stressing that due to systematic empowerment over the years by the Board indigenous companies have been able to step in and fill the gap.
Wabote who took Lokpobiri and his entourage on the tour of the NCDMB fire station, Creche, the three-star NCDMB Conference Hotel, Nigeria Oil and Gas Parks Scheme (NOGaPS) facility at Emeyal -1, NCDMB gas power plant at Elebele and the NCDMB Gas Hub at Polaku disclosed that the NOGaPS would be commissioned in the first quarter of 2024.
According to him, the delay in the execution schedule was due to the devastating flooding that hit several states in the second and third quarters of 2022.
He further disclosed that there are several manufacturing firms and other vendors that had expressed interest in operating at the parks, adding that the Board is currently screening the applicants to select serious firms for the Bayelsa and Cross River parks.