NCDMB insists on oil sector deregulation

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, (NCDMB), has reiterated the need to deregulate the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry to ensure efficiency and stability.

The Executive Secretary of the Board, Simi Kesiye Wabote, stated this yesterday while delivering a lecture titled; ‘Addressing Unemployment: Local Content as an option’ during a programme organised by the Institute of Directors in Port Harcourt, Rivers State .

Wabote noted that part of the challenge in the country’s downstream sector was because it is managed by government. He said, people clamour for privatization as a way out which according to him, would add more value to the sector and ensure fair deal.

The NCDMB boss said, “To tackle unemployment, we need to add value locally. Nigeria is the only country that sells crude and spends higher amount of money in refining or to get refined product.

“When you sell crude to other countries, you have sold everything and by that, we develop other countries .it is an irony because those countries refine the crude and utilize all the values of it; even in agriculture, we have not realised the value chain, we lose a lot of value in our raw materials”

Wobote further lamented that, 16million Nigerians are out of job, a population of three African countries put together.He however disclosed that NCDMB has put up strategies to boost the local contents value as it targets 300,000 jobs and $14billion increase of the oil and gas contribution in the Country’s GDP.

Earlier, the Director General of the Institute, Dele Alimi, said the body promotes good governance, adding that if all directors could replicate the good governance of their private sectors to the public, good cooperate governance would be entrenched in the country.

Similarly, the Port Harcourt zonal branch Chairman, Innocent Harry, said, the Institute enhances the economy for business development and provides services to its members.