The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) on Monday in Port Harcourt challenged practising journalists and other media stakeholders to deploy their skills in interrogation of reports on Nigerian Content performance in the oil and gas industry, so as to make the facts behind the resounding success in in-country value addition known to citizens.    

Speaking at a one-day workshop themed “The Role of the Media in Maintaining the Tempo of Nigerian Content Implementation,” the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, said the Board profoundly appreciates the capacity of the mass media to inform and educate the populace and has chosen forums such as the workshop to bring practitioners up to speed with its activities. 

According to him, “In 2025 NCDMB will be 15 years; looking at what we have been doing, the impact we have made in the oil and gas industry, moving Nigerian Content from less than five per cent in 2010 when we started to now 56 per cent…we have made significant progress.” 

Putting the growth in local content in context, he said, “For every N100 spent in the industry by operators and service companies, N56 is now retained in-country in terms of value addition [local assets, goods, expertise, etc. utilised].” Continuing, he added, “Our target is to be at 70 per cent by 2027.”

“You need to interrogate us more,” he reasoned, noting, “How did we get there? What are the metrics used [in computation]? That’s what will make your reporting adequately informative.” He assured the journalists that the Board would be supportive whenever they seek such clarification.

The Executive Secretary, who was represented by the General Manager, Corporate Communications and Zonal Coordination, Barr. Esueme Dan Kikile, said the Board has identified the integration of host communities into the oil and gas supply chain as one of the critical enablers of the strategic goal of 70 per cent by 2027, and has decided on appropriate measures.