No fewer than 12,000 people have been trained in different skill areas such as the use of various engineering design software, environmental remediation, boat repairs, electrical engineering, mechatronics and welding, among others.
The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Kesiye Wabote, disclosed this while speaking at the third convocation lecture of the Federal University of Petroleum Resources (FUPRE).
Wabote further stated that the training of the people spanned over 13 million man-hour to widen the span and entrench the depth of skills sets available in the oil and gas industry.
The NCDMB executive secretary commended the strides of the FUPRE for playing a leading role as a centre of academic excellence in the provision of research and leadership in energy discovery that has benefited the society as a whole.
According to Wabote, FUPRE’s mission and vision are consistent with the position of Nigeria as having the largest deposit of hydrocarbon resources in Africa.
He commended the foresight of FUPRE which, he said, was established 15 years ago as a full – fledged citadel of learning to prepare bright minds to drive the development of the country’s hydrocarbon sector.
The NCDMB boss, who spoke on a theme entitled “Defining the value of local content in Petroleum Education”, posited that local content development has become an integral part of the Nigerian oil and gas industry, especially in driving development across the industry.
Wabote noted that the ongoing debate and indeed, the deadlines being set in respect of energy transition bring to fore the need for development of home-grown skill sets to develop and manage the nation’s natural resources.
He stressed that there was need for Nigeria to develop a Nigerian content economy by a systematic development of capacity and capabilities through the deliberate utilisation of Nigerian human, material resources and services in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
“Nigeria is blessed with an abundance of human and natural resources with a population estimated at 206 million, about half of the entire population of West Africa, that is enough to make impact for any nation Which is desirous and truly willing to make progress,” he said.
He lamented that despite the huge hydrocarbon deposits in the country, the gains of the oil and gas industry did not materialise for the people and the economy of the nation, adding that the sector was dominated by foreigners and foreign equipment, goods and services for more than 50 years.
He further posited that the oil and gas industry experienced massive capacity flight and phenomenal job losses which resulted in local content level of less than five per cent.
According to him, to change the narrative, the Federal Government enacted the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act of 2010 which , among others, established the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board as the sole agency of government responsible for driving the development of local content in the oil and gas industry.
While speaking on energy transition and its implications on the nation’s economy, Wabote said: “The implications of energy transition on Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry is important because Human Capacity Development cannot be overemphasised as it is at the core of local content development.”