By Adewole Ojo

Players in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry usually look forward to this annual event, as it provides a gauge to measure the state of the industry and where it is headed. It is a gathering of executives from international and indigenous oil companies, service providers, regulators and the media. The three-day event provides a platform for announcing major projects, which helps service providers seeking opportunities to enhance their operations, on the back of these projects.

There were several firsts at this year’s edition of this flagship event of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), the local content regulator of the oil and gas industry. From a medley by the Bayelsa Cultural Troupe at the opening to the highly engaging town hall on Day Two, among several others, there was no dull moment. Here are the five notables at PNC 2025, which ended December 04.

Confidence returns to the industry

 For many years, energy sapped from the oil and gas industry. There were no new projects, and without projects, local content growth stalls. Fabrication yards laid fallow, thousands of young Nigerians trained by the Board found it difficult to secure jobs, and nothing new was happening.

The first indication of the changing times was heralded by the Board’s Executive Secretary, Engr. Omatsola Ogbe, in his opening address, in which he reeled out a future replete with opportunities. Good news: A US$100 million equity fund has been set aside by NCDMB to support local firms up to the tune of US$3 million per awardee. This was well received, as the impact such a fund would have in the industry is, to put it mildly, quite profound.

In other news: The trio of Shell, Renaissance Africa and Aradel announced projects worth over $7 billion in the pipeline. It was project after project after project, some of them quite big. The excitement among the audience was palpable.

No doubt, the buzz is back in the industry. Fabrication yards will start humming again. Skilled Nigerians would be employed on the back of these projects.

Do Nigerians do research? Seriously?

That was a major puzzle unravelled by Engr. Thankgod Egbe, CEO of Cyphercrescent, at the panel session on driving growth through technology and innovation. He presented the lead paper and also participated in the panel discussion.

While delivering his paper, it all looked quite esoteric until he launched into a unique proposition of getting 100 startups up and running, 10 of them listed as unicorns with 100 patents, in 10 years, all starting from local R&D crucibles – no, he called them innovation hubs – which would tap into the depth of knowledge, capacity and ability of Nigerians.

He should know, as he is a shining example of the potential of in-country R&D. Cyphercrescent, which he founded a few years back, has implemented unique solutions in the oil and gas industry and is set to expand to other markets on the continent. The company leverages computational mathematics, petroleum engineering and software to enhance production in oilfields and well integrity services.

With more people like Engr. Egbe, Nigerian R&D would have a clearer sight to market. If the 100 startups’ vision materialises, then the country will truly be on the path to actual industrialisation.

That townhall was the bomb

There were several unique features of PNC 2025. The introduction of a townhall indisputably takes the cake as the best feature of this year’s event. The townhall was a face-to-face interaction of the representatives of the Board and the audience. It was a two-way engagement. That is what makes it special.

It is standard fare for government agencies to engage in monologues, leaving the burden of understanding policies and initiatives to the populace. However, this was different. Members of the audience were allowed to send questions anonymously, removing the need for anyone to grandstand, and also empowering people who suffer stage fright the chance to engage freely. And, boy, were the questions tough!

Providing responses were NCDMB’s directors and PETAN’s president, who is also a member of the governing council of the Board. Their responses were insightful, reassuring and educative. It showed a regulator willing to listen, and review policies were necessary.

Kudos to NCDMB and DMG, organisers of PNC, for introducing the townhall. If anything, it helped the industry to ventilate many of the issues they had piled up over the years.

Do public officials spat in public?

 Apparently, yes, and from the podium, to boot. It all started when Senator Joel Thomas, a member of the Senate Committee on Local Content, took the microphone to deliver a goodwill message.

The speech started on a benign note and gained momentum as it increasingly became critical, examining several issues that have bothered Nigerians who closely follow the oil and gas industry. The senator brought a sledgehammer to a slugfest, as it is said in the streets! Nobody escaped his searing review – from NCDMB to operators to service providers to government – nobody was spared.

He mentioned names. Bemoaned the lack of jobs. Excoriated the fact that capacity that has been built on the back of local content, such as fabrication yards, are not being utilised. He urged the industry to move from local content paper compliance to real compliance. “Local content is not a slogan, but a lived economic reality,” he quipped.

The audience had their fill and almost gave the Senator a standing ovation, thinking it could not get any better. That thought quickly fizzled when Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil) took the microphone to deliver his goodwill message.

Also Read: US$100 million Nigerian content fund set to boost local oil and gas firms

Although he was not as critical as the former speaker, he however, bemoaned the(mis)use of the Nigerian Content Fund by some beneficiaries, and the prevalence of “briefcase service providers” who distort the local content ecosystem. He made references to Senator Joel’s remarks, bringing understanding to many of the issues the senator raised. The minister talked from a place of deep understanding, as he was a member of the Senate when the local content bill was being considered by the National Assembly.

Senator Lokpobiri’s optimistic outlook of the turning tide in the oil and gas industry helped to raise expectations that indeed, things are getting better. It was refreshing to see public officials not mounting platitudes, speaking frankly and displaying a deep and abiding love for the country.

Coming into his own

Journalism is a special profession; its practitioners know a lot but, at the same time, considered novices by people outside the profession. So, it was refreshing to see my good friend, who is more like a brother, Dr Obinna Ezeobi on stage participating in panel discussions – he moderated the panel on Nigerian Content Development Fund and the novel town hall. You could see his journalistic skills come to bear in follow up questions to elicit more information and insights from panelists, providing further clarity.

Obinna and I were fledgling reporters at NewAge newspaper about two decades ago. His passion (read: positive aggression), curiosity to learn and hard work stood him out, moving rapidly through the ranks to quickly becoming a desk editor within a short span. It is interesting to see his passion for excellence has not diminished. You could see how proud his former peers are of him; they still see him as one of their own.  He is following in the illustrious step of Dr Levi Ajuonuma, former group spokesperson of the NNPC who was also an accomplished journalist.

Lastly, it is great to see that there is relative peace and infrastructure development in the Niger Delta region. The trip from Port Harcourt Airport to Yenagoa via the East-West Road is a lot more pleasurable as there is massive work currently being executed on the road. Compared to other regions, Niger Delta is an oasis of calm, and predictability.

And that rap medley by the Bayelsa Cultural Troupe is something to look forward to seeing again.

Adewole Ojo is CEO, Four Points Communications Ltd, a brand and stakeholder management firm based in Lagos. He can be reached on adewole.ojo@fourpoints.ng.

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