The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) on Thursday gave some insight into the status of the Board’s 10-Year Strategic Road Map, noting that in-country capacity for fabrication is now in excess of national demand and that Nigerian companies now provide such services in the oil and gas sectors of the Middle East and elsewhere in Africa.
Speaking at the kick-off of a 12-month Nigerian Content Non-Compliance (NC-NC) Remediation Training Programme in Yenagoa, the Executive Secretary of the Board, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, explained that NCDMB is focused on fulfilling the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, 2010, and that building the capacity of Nigerian companies to participate in the oil and gas industry has been a guiding principle.
The Remediation Training Programme is being sponsored by Waltersmith Petroleum Oil Limited and the Executive Secretary was represented at the event by the General Manager Corporate Communication and Zonal Coordination, Mr. Esueme Dan Kikile, Esq.
Established in April 2010 to, among other things, “implement and enforce the provisions of the NOGICD Act, 2010,” the Board instituted a 10-Year Strategic Road Map in 2017 to increase Nigerian Content in the oil and gas industry from 26 per cent to 70 per cent by 2027. The first of five pillars of the Road Map focuses on technical capability development with emphasis on bolstering the capacity of the local supply chain for effective and efficient service delivery to the oil and gas industry, without compromising standards.
As of 2010, Nigeria’s grossly limited fabrication capacity resulted in heavy reliance of the oil and gas industry on imported line pipes, fully coated abroad, with severe consequences for the national economy in terms of capital flight. From less than 50,000 metric tonnes per annum in that year, fabrication tonnage grew steadily to 228,260 (tons) in 2017, and to yet much higher tonnage in the succeeding years, which translates into remarkably enhanced local manufacturing and coating of required pipes.
For NCDMB, whose key objectives include, “maximizing Nigerian Content scope on fabrication packages” and “retention of industry spend associated with the fabrication value chain,”the exponential growth represented a significant breakthrough as the Executive Secretary declared, “We now have excess capacityin terms of fabrication in-country; we are exporting…outside this country.”
Fabrication yards in the country provide three major services, namely, shipbuilding, repair and maintenance, metal frame fabrication, and erection and installation of steel structures. Leading in-country firms include Bablink Resources Nigeria Limited, Nigerdock Nigeria Plc, Dorman Long Engineering Limited, Daewoo Engineering and Construction Limited, Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria (SHIN), Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited, Beam Energy Limited, Ariboil Company Limited, AOS Orwell Limited, Aveon Offshore Limited, and Brightwaters Energy Limited.
Under the Road Map, he noted further, the Board has a target of 300,000 jobs to be created in the oil and gas industry and linkage sectors such as energy and power and construction within the aforesaid time frame. “We are not at 300,000 yet, but we have done very well,” he stated.
According to him, “Some of the people we have trained in oil and gas are working elsewhere in Africa,” a fact he believed should motivate the current trainees to be focused and committed, especially as several big-ticket projects in oil and gas would be coming on stream between now and 2026.
“We continue to do things that will help young people; we continue to do things that will grow our economy; we continue to do things that will support the oil and gas industry,” he affirmed, adding, “We are training you to be employable and to be able to employ others.”
He said NCDMB is not just a regulator but a business-enabler, citing various initiatives of the Board to promote ease of doing business, such as Service Level Agreements (SLAs), pioneered by the Board in the Public Service to eliminate unwarranted bureaucratic delays in processes.
The Executive Secretary also commended WaltersmithPetroleum Oil Limited for facilitating the training programmeand for its other capacity building initiatives.
Speaking on behalf of Waltersmith, the Lead Advisor, External Affairs and Government Relations, Ms. Sarah Ajunoma, described the training programme as an important milestone for the trainees, “a major transformative journey” in their lives.
While urging them to show commitment, she said, “taking responsibility for your personal improvement journey is important.”
She expressed the appreciation of her company to NCDMB for the support her company has enjoyed and for the collaboration in capacity development.
A representative of Dexterous Applied Training Institute, an educational consultancy firm, Mr. Aniso Kelly, outlined the scope of the training programme, which is broadly in two parts – General Courses and Specialised Skill Sets. The former consists of Entrepreneurship, Health Safety at Work, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Introduction to Oil and Gas Engineering Materials, and Nigerian Content Awareness.
The Specialised Skill Sets include Quality Control and Assurance, Instrumentation and Control Engineering and Process Engineering.
While the general courses will be taught at the NCDMB Learning Centre in Yenagoa during the first few weeks of the programme, the Specialised Skill Sets, which require hands-on training, will be at a designated facility in Port Harcourt. A total of 52 trainees are undergoing the programme, with 23 participating in the current batch.
