By Bassey Williams, Yenagoa
The Bayelsa State Governor, His Excellency Senator Douye Diri has urged the mulit- nationals in oil and gas industry to relocate their headquarters to Niger Delta States where they are having their operational activities.
Governor Diri said this while declaring open the 10th Practical Content Forum of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCMDB) at the Content Board Towers in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
The Governor further said that the Petroleum Industry Acts (PIA ) recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari has made the Niger Delta states and its people unsure of their place in the equitable sharing of their resources, urging the Federal Government and key players in the oil and gas industry to take steps to right the wrongs.
He that the essential ingredient of local content is the bedrock of Nigerian Content and the PIA is for the Board to activate the tenets of its law in engaging the oil majors appropriately and consequently and to take a lot of unemployed youths off the streets.
He said that the theme of the workshop “Driving Nigerian Content in the New Dawn of the Petroleum Industry Act,” underscore the fact that local companies need empowered workforce, which when equipped, will be able to provide services and value at the highest levels of demand.
According to him, the idea of local content is about securing direct and indirect opportunities for employment and procurement to homegrown companies, as well as fostering the development of local skills, technology transfer, and use of local manpower and local manufacturing in capital projects.
He said, “Given the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act which has gotten the host communities, by and large, the entire Niger Delta and in particular Bayelsa State, unsure of their place in the equitable sharing of their resources, one sure way of evolving a gratified local content equation is for the Board to activate the tenets of its law, in engaging the oil majors appropriately, to have their offices here in Bayelsa State.
“They should also engage the local businesses more and consequently, take a lot of unemployed youths off the streets. This is the essential ingredient of local contentment and the bedrock of Nigerian Content and the PIA.
“The Nigerian Content Law and PIA, are analogous to the foundation and therefore, if the objectives for these Acts will be attained, it is highly essential in discussing the theme for the Forum, to be mindful of some foundational realities; including peace and security, which remain irreducible minimums, to the survival and success of businesses.
“To ensure peace and security for a conducive business climate to thrive and create a multiplier effect for massive growth in the Niger Delta the essence of local contentment must be vigorously pursued.
“There is a need to help build the local environment that supports oil and gas business. The Nembe/Brass Road is a metaphor for how the indigenes and host communities have been overlooked in the allocation of resources, even when we collectively, stand to gain more from collaborating.
“We have made written presentations to the federal government and the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) on the urgent need to support the construction of the Nembe-Brass Road, which is a federal project and look forward to getting a favourable resolution soon,” he said.
In his keynote address, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Wabote, said part of the board’s long-term initiative under the 10-year roadmap is to develop a shipyard in Nigeria.
According to him, the board has completed feasibility study of the Brass Island Shipyard which confirms the technical and commercial viability of the project.
He disclosed that the Board is focused to commission and commence operations at Nigerian Content Oil and Gas Industrial Park sites in Emeyal 1 Bayelsa state and Odukpani in Cross Rivers State, complete the engineering design of Brass Island Shipyard and embark on roadshows to secure investment partners, building of a 200-room NCMDB hostel for delegates and the completion of Skill Acquisition centre in Port Harcourt.
In his remarks, the Minister of State for Petroleum Chief Timipre Sylva who was represented by the Director Human Resources in the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, His Royal Highness, Dr. Famous Aseidugho commended the Executive Secretary for sustaining the tempo of the practical content forum which kick-started a year after the NOGIC Act was signed into law in 2010 which has become a template for all African oil and gas industry.