Odahiekwu Ogunde, Yenagoa
Executive Secretary, Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board, Mr Simbi Wabote, has revealed an increase of the Nigeria Content Intervention Funds from $200million to $350million with additional new products.
Wabote stated this on Tuesday during a capacity building workshop for media stakeholders in the South South held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, with the theme, ‘Sustaining Nigeria Content Development Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of the Media’.
He said that despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the board had delivered immensely to ensure that operations of the oil and gas sector continued, even after many expatriates had gone back to their countries.
Wabote said though the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the world’s economy and pushed Nigeria’s fragile economy into recession, the board and oil and gas operations in Nigeria continued, albeit in a restrained form.
Wabote posited that Nigeria must continue to use the Nigerian content to domicile oil and gas industrial activities, create employment opportunities for the people and industrialise the economy.
He said, “As I have emphasised in several fora, Nigerian Content is perhaps the last opportunity we have as a people to extract maximum value from our God-given hydrocarbon resources.
“We must continue to use Nigerian Content to domicile oil and gas industrial activities, create employment opportunities for our people and industrialise our economy.”
Wabote, who said the theme of the workshop was timely, relevant, and conceived in furtherance of the Nigerian Content 10-year strategic roadmap, implored the media to keep abreast of their programmes and achievements.
He said the development would enable the media to promote them and galvanize the support of Nigerians.
He also challenged the media to promote and protect investments because they are critical to the growth of Nigerian Content and the local economy.
He added, “Through your support, the NCDMB has been positioned as one of the best performing organizations in the country. Just recently, the Presidential Committee on Ease of Doing Business (PEBEC) rated NCDMB as the most improved organization on transparency amongst all federal ministries, departments and agencies.
“Our achievements in 2020 include the inauguration of the new multi-billion Naira Nigerian Content Tower President Muhammadu Buhari on August 13, 2020, increased in the size of our Nigeria Content Intervention Funds (NCIF) from $200million to $350million with addition of new products.
“Others include the approval of the $50million Nigeria Content Research and Development Fund, inauguration of the 5,000bpd Waltersmith modular refinery at Ibigwe, Imo State in November this year, among others.”