In 2017, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) launched a strategic roadmap that had the goal of increasing local content output within the oil and gas industry to up to 70 percent by 2027.

At the 12th Practical Nigerian Content Forum 2023 which kicked off on Tuesday, 5 November at the Nigerian Content Towers in Yenagoa, the NCDMB Executive Secretary, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote announced that most of the agenda set in the roadmap had reached 83 percent completion which makes it likely that the agency will achieve the set goals.

The roadmap is wrapped in five pillars and four enablers to drive the focus areas and is supported by short-, medium-, and long-term initiatives.

Presenting NCDMB’s scorecard at the forum attended by over 700 oil and gas stakeholders, the Executive Secretary indicated that the Board’s focus would shift to the remaining initiatives, which according to him required some heavy lifting to bring them to fruition.

Engr. Wabote said that the Nigerian Content level in 2023 stood at 54 percent, just like in 2022. The calculation is based on the Board’s monitoring and evaluation of industry activities.

“This performance”, says Wabote, “is well above the minimum target of 47 percent Nigerian Content set for 2023 by the Board’s Project Management Office (PMO) just like we outperformed the 42 percent Nigerian Content target set for 2022 by achieving 54 percent Nigerian Content.”

He indicated that the top three performers of in-country spend are Shipping, Surveying/Positioning services, and Inspection/Testing and Certification with each at 100 percent NC level, while the bottom three performers are Modification and Maintenance at 26 percent NC level; Health, Safety, and Environment at 31 percent NC level; and Materials and Procurement at 32  percent NC level.

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The Executive Secretary also expressed concern that the stagnation of the Nigerian Content achievement at 54 percent raised questions on whether the efforts had reached stagnancy or just an inflection, leading to the decline in the Nigerian Content level in the oil and gas industry.

Being his last PNC Keynote Address as the Executive Secretary, Engr. Wabote reminded the top government functionaries and industry stakeholders present that “getting the industry to this level of Nigerian Content is not a walk in the park,” and called on all stakeholders to “play their part to prevent the industry from rolling back to the dark days of implementing Nigerian Content as a token of consolation”.

He cautioned that “The nexus between high Nigerian Content levels and the relative peace in the industry must not be lost on us,” noting that a “a lack of leadership backing at all levels opens the door for the practice to take the back seat.”

The Executive Secretary took the occasion to present what he termed “a reflection on the journey in the last seven and a half years of being in the saddle as the Executive Secretary.”

Citing data from the Board’s Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Joint Qualification System (NOGIC-JQS), he said registered indigenous industry operators have increased from 53 in 2018 to 114 in 2023, while indigenous service companies increased from 8,000 to 11,000 within the same period.

Also, individual registrations surged from 140,000 to almost 400,000.

Under one of the five pillars of the roadmap, Technical Capability Development, are other major accomplishments. One of these is the increase in in-country fabrication capacity from 60,000 tons per year to 250,000 tons within the period described above.

Engr. Wabote disclosed that eight industrial parks being developed by the Board to support the manufacturing and assembly of equipment and input materials required in the industry are at various stages of execution. He shared that the Nigerian Oil and Gas Park Scheme (NOGaPS) at Emeyal-1, in Bayelsa State, and a similar Park at Odukpani in Cross River State are due for commissioning in the first half of 2024.

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In a goodwill message, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, commended the NCDMB for its outstanding performance in local content implementation, and for the ongoing PNC Forum.

In a note of assurance, the minister told stakeholders that the Federal Government is committed to promoting cleaner, more sustainable practices within the energy sector, even as the country continues with hydrocarbon extraction.

Senator Lokpobiri who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of his ministry, Ambassador Gabriel Aduda said Nigeria aligns with the global push for environmental stewardship and would explore all means of making production processes conform to cleaner technologies.

While drawing attention to the theme of the Forum, “Deepening Nigerian Content Amidst Divestments, Domestication and Decarbonisation,” the minister called on stakeholders to “embrace the challenges that have been posed by divestment to actively promote domestication and steadfastly pursue the path of Decarbonization.”

The Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, was also represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Alabo Gideon Ekeuwei. He lauded the NCDMB and its leaders for the extraordinary successes achieved so far and charged participants to explore avenues for collaboration, joint ventures, and partnerships that will help Nigeria harness Nigerian Content potentialities fully.

Ayodele Johnson

Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.