According to Simbi Wabote, executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), for Nigeria to be on track in the implementation of its decade of gas program, government should provide yearly status reports of the successes, issues, supports required, and targets completion dates.
He made the suggestion at the just finished Nigerian International Energy Summit (NIES), which was held in Abuja and at which he also gave separate speeches at conferences for the industry.
The head of the NCDMB advised that the agencies, entities, and stakeholders in charge of the numerous projects and initiatives listed in the decade of gas program submit status reports, which would then be presented at the annual NIES.
He urged all parties involved to remain focused on implementing the initiative even as a new administration is expected to enter office on May 29, 2023.
He emphasized the need for the decade of gas programs to continue and added: “The incoming government may give the programme a new name but we must not lose focus on the importance of gas to our energy needs and economic development.”
The Executive Secretary also outlined eight focal areas that the Board is using to advance the achievement of the Federal Government’s Decade of a Gas Plan.
Human capacity development, the creation of industrial parks, public-private partnerships, and intervention funds with Nigerian content are some of the areas of attention.
Others include regulatory framework, regional cooperation, business-friendly environments, and research and development.
Wabote made a suggestion that the NCDMB had provided close to 14 million manhours of training for the acquisition of the various skill sets necessary to explore for, develop, operate, and maintain hydrocarbon facilities. He focused on the capacity building programs necessary to improve the training and retraining of the skilled workforce for the industry.
The Expatriate Quota Management System, STEM Education, Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET), Institutional Strengthening, ICT Centers, and Training Certifications were some of the tools and programs he identified for the board’s human capacity development.
The survey conducted by the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO) to evaluate the standards in training institutions on the African continent rated Nigeria as one of the top countries with credible institutions for training the required manpower for the oil and gas industry, the speaker said, adding that the Board’s capacity-building programs were effective and recognized internationally.
The Executive Secretary provided updates on the development of oil and gas industrial parks and stated that the Board has started issuing allocation letters to reliable investors in preparation for the start of operations inside the NOGAPS Industrial Parks located in the states of Bayelsa and Cross River.
He also stated: “The NCDMB Gas Hub at Polaku is fully dedicated to domiciliation of gas-related enterprises such as Pressure Reduction and Metering Station, CNG mother stations, LPG cylinder manufacturing plants, Gas processing facilities, power plant and other similar facilities.”
He defined local content development as a theory that aims to promote the in-country domiciliation of value-adding activities while also encouraging the usage of local resources like people, goods, services, oil, gas, wind, hydro, or solar.
He emphasized that narratives surrounding energy transition have changed significantly from “energy swap” to “energy mix,” and this is because all forms of energy are now accepted as important facts rather than being pitted against one another just because some countries have exhausted their reserves of particular energy sources.
In 2022, the European Union reclassified gas and nuclear energy as green energy, but coal production and consumption are on the rise as talks are now focused on how to make it cleaner rather than referring to coal as a “dirty fuel,” according to Wabote.
