The Executive Secretary of the
Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Felix Omatsola Ogbe
has called for deepened partnership with key agencies of the Federal Government
to achieve the economic aspirations of President Bola Tinubu’s administration
adding that cooperation and teamwork were key to accomplishing any noble
objective.
He made this call during the
visit the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory
Commission (NUPRC), Engr. Gbenga Komolafe and the Commissioner for Insurance of
the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Sunday Olorundare Thomas at their
respective offices in Abuja.
The visit by the new executive
secretary was aimed at familiarizing himself with chief executives of
institutions that are represented on the NCDMB’s Governing Council as well as
exploring areas of collaboration.
Ogbe pledged to work closely with
NAICOM to review and operationalize the insurance services regulations jointly
issued by both agencies in June 2022, to get Nigerian oil and gas companies to
patronize local insurance firms and retain spend in the economy.
The Commissioner for NAICOM
congratulated the Executive Secretary on his appointment, noting that he would
be building on the solid foundation laid by his predecessors. He described
NCDMB as a formidable institution and commended the founding fathers of the
Board for their foresight in creating such an important agency. He also lauded
the former Executive Secretaries of the NCDMB for their innovative projects and
achievements while in office that added value to the economy.
The Commissioner described insurance
as the oxygen of business operations. He expressed the concern that the
insurance services regulations that were signed by the commission and NCDMB
were yet to be implemented. He requested the Executive Secretary to address the
challenges, hinting that implementing the regulations would bring the needed
changes in the insurance subsector of the oil and gas industry before being
extended to other key sectors of the economy.
At the NUPRC, the Executive
Secretary reiterated the need for teamwork and partnership amongst various
agencies under the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, to sustain the growth of
the Nigerian oil and gas industry. He hinted that collaboration would create an
enabling environment that would attract investments and new projects into the
sector, helping to create employment opportunities for youths and address
insecurity in the polity.
While noting that Local Content
development would be stunted if projects and investments in the oil and gas
sector did not flourish, the Executive Secretary suggested that NCDMB and NUPRC
should organize workshops to examine and resolve concerns identified by
investors as obstacles to investments and new projects. He hinted that
investment decisions by international oil and gas companies are often affected
by their assessment of their Return on Investments (ROI).
In his comments, the Commission
Chief Executive of NUPRC congratulated the Executive Secretary on his
appointment, noting that the industry was pleased to have a person of his
pedigree as the new helmsman of the NCDMB.
Komolafe highlighted the
important role of the NCDMB in the operations of the upstream sector of the
petroleum industry and commended the new Executive Secretary for seeking closer
cooperation among the agencies.
He described the move as
beneficial, especially at a time when every hand is on the deck towards
increasing Nigeria’s crude oil production, earning higher revenue for the
nation, and reviving the economy.
He noted that the Nigerian
upstream sector was facing severe pressures because of the low crude oil
production and lack of investment in recent years. He pointed out that the
energy map of the world had changed considerably with the emergence of several
new oil-producing countries.
This situation he said, had
induced a high level of competitiveness for investment capital, stressing that
strategic actions must be taken to make the Nigerian environment
investor-friendly. According to him, “we must vacate entry barriers for
investment. This is common logic when there is high competition. We need to
work together to lower barriers and do everything possible to motivate
investment”.
He assured that the NUPRC would
partner closely with the NCDMB to achieve the programmes it had planned for
2024.
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