Oil industry operators have urged the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to enforce the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act of 2010 to effectively boost the sector’s output.

This call was made during a session titled “Exportation of Local Capacity: Maximising Regional Opportunities” at the ongoing Nigerian Oil and Gas conference in Abuja on Monday.

Panelists at the session emphasized that although Nigeria has grown its capacity in the oil industry, strict enforcement of local content laws is necessary to retain and adequately utilize this capacity before exporting it.

Ernest Azudialu-Obiejesi, Chairman of Nestoil Limited, highlighted that many African countries now look up to Nigeria due to its achievements in local content.

“What is very important is that we need to sustain the capacities,” he stated, urging the government and NCDMB to assist in this endeavor.

Azudialu-Obiejesi elaborated, “Today people are looking up to Nigeria to learn from what Nigeria has been able to achieve in the oil sector. This means that they recognise that Nigeria has made some level of achievements in local content. So what I think is that if you want a stay of capacity in your country, you have to enact local content laws that are enforceable, laws that you can be able to enforce. Making laws is one thing and being able to enforce it is another thing. And you must make sure it works.”

He further added, “What the NCDMB has done is good, but they need to continue to enforce these laws so that Nigerians who have developed these capacities will have the capacities stay,” indicating that this would positively impact the sector.

Henry Okolie-Aboh, Managing Director of Westfield Energy Resources Limited, echoed similar sentiments. He pointed out that Nigeria has significantly grown its capacity in the oil and gas sector and called on the NCDMB to support operators in expanding this capacity through local content laws. He emphasized the need for skilled manpower in the oil sector to flourish.

Felix Ogbe, Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, highlighted the importance of the Nigerian Content Seminar, a flagship programme of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Energy Week Conference.

According to Ogbe, the seminar provides a platform for engaging stakeholders and sharing the board’s efforts and activities towards achieving its mandates of developing local capacities and enforcing compliance with the local content laws.

Ogbe stated, “As we are all aware, the Nigerian Content Seminar session of the NOG Energy Week Conference is a flagship programme of the NOG. The seminar gives the board the opportunity to engage with our stakeholders and share the efforts and activities we are making at the board towards achieving our critical mandates of developing local capacities and capabilities and enforcing compliance with the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act of 2010. This seminar is also an excellent platform to provide clarity, expositions, tips, and guidance to industry practitioners on the provisions of the Act, the ministerial regulations, and NCDMB guidelines.”

Ogbe also mentioned various tools and initiatives including human capacity development, Nigerian Content Plan, Nigerian Content Equipment Certificate, expatriate quota implementation, monitoring and evaluation, Nigerian Content Development Fund remittances, and Nigerian Content Intervention Funds among others.

He further noted the federal government’s commitment to the local content agenda, citing a presidential directive on local content compliance issued earlier this year by President Bola Tinubu.

“The presidential directive seeks to further deepen local content in the Nigerian oil and gas industry while enhancing competitiveness, mitigating risks of approving unqualified contractors, improving the approval timeline, and creating an enabling business environment in the Nigerian oil and gas industry,” Ogbe concluded.

The session underscored the critical need for enforcing local content laws to ensure sustainable development and utilization of local capacities in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.