The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has directed that expatriates working in the Nigerian oil and gas industry would, henceforth, undertake biometric registration as part of conditions they must fulfill before their organizations can secure expatriate quota approvals from the Board.
The exercise, according to the board, will capture details of all foreigners working for operating and service companies in Nigeria on the electronic platform – Nigerian Content Joint Qualification System, (NOJICJQS) being operated by the Board.
NCDMB Executive Secretary, Ernest Nwapa stated this in Lagos last week that the exercise will start in the first quarter of 2013.
The registration, he noted, will help the board evaluate the skills of the expatriates and confirm that such skills are not available locally in the industry. It will also assist the board to electronically track the numbers of expatriates in the industry, their length of stay, compliance with provided succession plans and expected date of exit.
He said at the completion of the biometric registration, each expatriate will get a unique card, which he or she will produce whenever the monitoring team from the board comes around for periodic verification.
Nwapa added that Section 33 of the NOGICD Act mandates operators to apply and receive the approval of the Board before making any application for expatriate quota to the Ministry of Internal Affairs or any other agency of the Federal Government.
Among other conditions, the Board requires companies seeking to get expatriate quota approvals for their operations in the oil and gas industry to first advertise the positions to Nigerians through national and international media outfits.
Other new initiatives of the Board endorsed by its Governing Council chaired include the planned establishment of industrial parks in each oil producing state in partnership with the state governments.
He said the Board will collaborate with major operators, service companies and the relevant state governments to build industrial parks, which will support operations of the industry and help achieve service efficiency through shared services.
Other benefits of the industrial park concept include the reduction of start-up investment cost for new business, stakeholders’ collaboration and industry commitment to utilize manufactured products from industrial parks.
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