The Minister of Petroleum Resources Mrs. Diezani Allison- Madueke has stated that by signing the Nigerian Content Development in the Oil and Gas Industry Act 2010 into law, the Federal Government has opened up new vistas for local capacity building in the nation’s maritime as well as oil and gas sectors.
Speaking at the second edition of the Maritime Round Table which was organized by the Nigeria Chamber of Shipping (NCS) last week in Lagos, the minister, who was represented by the Corporate Secretary of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Professor Yinka Omoregbe, said that the new law has created immense opportunities for indigenous operators both in the maritime and oil and gas sectors.
According to her government has done this “to increase the contribution of these economically viable industries to the GDP which had been low due to dwindling local participation”.
She explained that as the supervising ministry for oil and gas, “our efforts are aimed at ensuring that quality services and products are provided while maintaining high stake in economic growth. We are aware that it is in this way that practitioners and stakeholders will also benefit and grow in their business”.
The minister acknowledged that the essence of the round table is to assist operators in both sectors to get better organised and also work out potent ways of taking advantage of the inherent benefits in the new law.
“Today, our destiny has been put in our hands to get better equipped and ensure operational efficiency so that we do not compromise standard in the quest for local capacity building”, she added.
She commended the Nigeria Chamber of Shipping for organizing the roundtable which according to her, pooled operators, regulators and all stakeholders together to “interact over the progress and development of our industries to build a working synergy between maritime and oil and gas for improved local content development”.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the chairman of the occasion Mr. Oladipo Jadesimi who is also the executive chairman, Lagos Deep Offshore Logistic Base (LADOL) acknowledged that the maritime sector is at the very heart of the local content initiative, just as it is with the Cabotage law, because import and export of crude oil, product, gas are all part of seaborne trade.
In her introductory remarks to tick-start the discussions, the Director General of the Nigeria Chamber of Shipping, Mrs Ify Anazonwu –Akerele called for expedited action on the implementation of the Nigerian Content law adding that it must not be allowed to experience unduly long period of moratorium.
She underscored the round table saying that it is organised quarterly to serve as a rallying point for stakeholders to take advantage of government policies, hence the focus on discussing the Nigerian Content.
Speaking in like manner, the coordinator of the Chamber’s Round Table, Dr Chinelo Amaka Chizea stressed that the essence of last week’s edition was to facilitate an understanding of the various opportunities that are imbedded in the Nigeria Content law so as to create a window for stakeholders.
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