Why we must protect local companies, by NCDMB boss

Nigerians own 37.5 per cent of vessels in oil, gas sector

The Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has said that jobs which Nigerian companies have competencies would no longer be outsourced to foreign firms.

The Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Simbi Wabote, who said this in Warri yesterday while inspecting the facilities of Lee Engineering Ltd, disclosed those items manufactured in Nigeria and confirmed durable would no longer be allowed into the country.

The NCDMB chief, on inspection of some Nigeria-owned companies to determine their capacities and competencies, said: “In those days when we started local content, most jobs were taken out of the country. At the end of the day Nigerians were only invited to commission those jobs. But going forward, any job that could be done in Nigeria or be manufactured locally must be done here.

“Those days when we take jobs that Nigerians could do overseas are indeed over. We will support Nigerian companies that have invested here, local companies that have developed capacities and are continuing to create employment for Nigerians must be protected,” Wabote said.

The local content monitoring chief lauded Nigerian companies for having attained a high level of local content compliance saying that many of them had between 90 and 98 per cent compliance.

In Lagos, the NCDMB boss said that Nigerians own 37.5 per cent of vessels operating in the nation’s oil and gas industry, a development, which was a marked improvement on what obtained in 2010.

He lamented that over 90 per cent of the expenditure of maritime segment of the oil and gas industry was lost to foreign economies in 2010, attributing this to the preponderance of foreign-owned vessels.

According to Wabote, the 2016 3rd quarter Vessel Categorisation Report indicated that 2,258 vessels currently operate in oil and gas industry and 235 of them were built locally.