Oil and gas: Group backs ongoing reforms at Nigerian content dev board

Transparency in Petroleum Exploration and Development Initiative (TIPEDI) on Thursday endorsed ongoing reforms at the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).

The Secretary of TIPEDI, Dr Michael Amaegberi made this known in statement issued in Yenagoa.

TIPEDI is a Non-Governmental Organisation monitoring operations in the nation’s oil and gas industry.

Amaegberi said that the reforms would institutionalise competency assessment of staff for efficiency and enhanced service delivery in the operations of the NCDMB and by implication the oil and gas sector.

He said that the current management led by the Executive Secretary, Mr Simbi Wabote, had adopted best practices by  transforming the human resource evaluation system to make it performance driven by the innovation.

He hoped that at the end of the process, a more efficient regulatory and content development organisation that could meet high expectations of key players in the oil and gas sector would be built.

He said the engagement of KPMG to conduct the review of human resource processes, and competency test, indicated a desire to raise the quality of service of the board.

“Some of the ongoing reforms in NCDMB, including welfare issues were inherited by Mr Wabote and it is instructive to note that he has not shied away from undertaking the various exercises that are necessary to restore sanity in the work environment.

“The move is in line with the change agenda of the Buhari administration and the public service rules.

“The review of organisational structure, we understand will help define clearly, departments and units and requirement for officers to occupy various positions.

“The board will determine where additional manpower will be needed as the process will encourage promotion of staff and the employment of new ones to fill vacant positions after the board would have identified where there are capacity deficiencies,” he said.

Amaegberi commended all staff and particularly top management officers for submitting themselves to the recently completed competency test to identify their competency profile based on knowledge, skills, ability and attitude required to function at the optimum level.

He observed that the ongoing performance, skills and competence study by KPMG was a departure from past practices where staff were arbitrarily sent for all manner of trainings whether relevant to their work or not.

He urged the management to sustain the ongoing conduct of staff verification, which was started before the appointment of Wabote to rid the board of those whose employment process did not follow established procedure.

According to Amaegberi, the verification will also fish out those with possible fake certificates in a process that must be seen to be fair and transparent, devoid of victimisation or high handedness.

He expressed delight that many staff actually welcomed the ongoing reforms in NCDMB because they believe it would  enhance staff performance and improve overall quality of activities of the board.

The NGO said that its investigations showed that some workers who were opposed to the ongoing reforms were doing so because they were fed with wrong information on the intentions of the management.

“Our interaction with NCDMB management reveals that the exercise will not lead to the dismissal of any staff or in any way deny anyone of their promotion as long as their employment process as well as qualifications are in order,” he said.

Amaegberi advised the NCDMB management to ensure regular interaction with staff and open different channels of communication to intimate the in-house union of proposed policies and changes in the organisation.

The group noted that sensitising the workforce on the ongoing innovations would foster harmonious relationship between management and workers at all times.