The Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr Udom Emmanuel has
assured citizen of the state on government readiness to commence building of
modular refinery which will help to absorb some trainees who have completed
their training in various fields......
Emmanuel who was represented by the Secretary
to the State Government, Sir, Etekamba Udo Umoren gave the assurance at the
ongoing 7th practical Nigerian Content, organized by the Nigerian Content
Development and Monitoring Board (NCDBM) on Tuesday in uyo, with the theme “Nigerian
Content – The Next Frontier’’ The governor said that plans are also on the way
to upgrade the Peacock Paint Industry at Ikot Ekang, Etinan, to produce
anti-corrosive paint of international standard for use in the oil and gas
industry. He said that government has great interest in peace and security,
adding that the state have a robust mechanism that provides a platform for oil
companies and their host community to interface and dialogue on mutual interest
and co-exist. According to him, this is to promote peace and provide conducive
environment for oil companies to operate. It has also provided room for
companies to sign Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with their host
communities. He said that however, out of thirteen (13) Oil Producing Companies
operating in the state, only five (5) have signed MOU with their Host
Communities in compliance to Government directive. It is good for us to be
proactive. I therefore urge companies who are yet to sign MOUs to contact the
State Ministry for this. “There is no doubt that Akwa Ibom State is the highest
producer of crude oil and the most peaceful in the Niger Delta Region. In spite
of this, the State has few oil and gas and service companies established in it.
“This is unacceptable. However, since the inception of this administration
conscientious effort has been made to build capacities, develop manpower and
provide infrastructure to enable the State reposition itself and take its pride
of place,’’ he said Emmanuel said that in line with the DAAKADA Philosophy of
this government which has aroused the interest of the citizens into
entrepreneurship and self-actualization, the State has through its various
agencies trained some youths and graduates in pipeline welding, electrical and
instrumental engineering, mechanical installations, information communication
technology, etc. He said that this is to provide employment and local content
in the oil and gas industry, adding that government have also signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Halliburton to build a Skill Training
Centre in the State. “ I wish to call on NCDMB to develop the site of the Skill
Acquisition Centre allocated to them by the State to boost manpower development
for the industry. In his remark, the executive secretary, NCDMB, Mr Simbi Wabote
said that within the next one year, the board targets to ensure that the
Nigerian Content Intervention Fund becomes fully operational and provide
statistics of service providers and community contractors who have benefited.
Wabote said that the board is also planning to organise the Judges
sensitization workshop on the NOGICD Act as a prelude to prosecution of
non-compliant cases in the courts. According to him, we will sharpen our
inter-agency collaboration with Customs, Nigerian Immigration Service, PTDF,
PTI, NNPC-NAPIMS, and others “We will also strengthen the Sectorial Working
Groups under the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum (NCCF) as a credible
platform to get regular feedback from industry practitioners. We will set up
the R&D Steering Committee and deliver R&D roadmap for the industry. In
addition, we will give traction to our on-going initiatives such as the R&D
Centers of Excellence and the ‘Adopt a Faculty’ program,’’ he said. The Es said
that about this time last year,We had the Practical Nigerian Content in Abuja
when I was barely three weeks in office as the Executive Secretary of Nigerian
Content Development and Monitoring Board. At the end of that conference,
certain actions were generated some of which were given to NCDMB.In line with
my commitment to ensure value is derived from conferences rather than just used
as talk shops, I have decided that we will utilize the forum like this to
provide update on any action we have agreed to take onboard to deepen local
content practice Wabote said that one of the first directives he gave upon
resumption is that operators can assume they have received our consent if they
did not get feedback from us within 15 working days. He said that beyond this,
the board has also streamlined our internal processes at the Board such that
NCDMB is now positioned to review contracts within 100 days provided submitted
documents are in line with the NOGICD Act. ` I am happy to note that we have
demonstrated this in the last one year as evidenced in the unprecedented
completion time of tendering process for the Zabazaba project. “We are bold
enough to jointly develop and sign Service Level Agreements with some of our
critical stakeholders such as NLNG – a first by any government agency. “ We
have written to OPTS to jointly draw up similar agreements to ensure NCDMB’s
role in contracting process is clear and transparent in line with the Executive
Order on Ease of Doing Business.
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