The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, and his gas counterpart, Empurple Ekpo, hailed the dexterity and courage of a management staff of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Dr Obinna Ezeobi, for writing a book chronicling landmark achievement of the local content implementation by the board.
Ezeobi gave an account of how deft communication initiatives, skilful stakeholder management strategies, and effective collaboration among key players in the oil sector played pivotal roles in propagating and advancing Nigeria’s local content policy in the last 15 years.
Also, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Felix Omatsola Ogbe, has commended Ezeobi on the feat, even as he said the board would procure copies of the book.
Ogbe’s predecessor, Simbi Kesiye Wabote, was also full of excitement as he received copies of the book from the author, just as the Special Advisor to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Energy, Olu Verheijen, also gave Ezeobi a thumbs up for publishing a quality book on a major economic policy of the Federal Government.
Notable personalities in the Nigerian and African energy sector endorsed the book, including the pioneer Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Dr Ernest Nwapa, who wrote a riveting foreword for the book.
Secretary General of the African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO), Dr Omar Farouk Ibrahim, not only endorsed the book, but he also recommended it to policymakers and local content enthusiasts across the continent and beyond.
The Chairman of Oildata Group and former Chairman of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), Emeka Ene, has lauded the work for chronicling some of the local content success stories.
The book, ‘Nigeria’s Local Content: A Journey of Strategic Communication and Economic Transformation’ comes at a time when stakeholders in the Nigerian oil and gas industry are getting ready to mark 15 years of the enactment and implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act.
Receiving a copy of the book in Abuja, NCDMB’s Executive Secretary commended the author for his efforts in documenting and projecting the local content story. He particularly lauded the aesthetics and quality of the book, pledging that the Board would procure copies.
The book has 267 pages, split into five parts, each section focusing on different but related themes such as the evolution of the oil and gas industry and local content, as well as contemporary issues like the impact of oil companies’ divestments and Presidential Directives on local content development.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER
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