.Joins Renaissance to coach 60 Nigerians in vital oil, gasoline technical abilities
Kasie Abone and Sylvester Idowu in Warri
The media should take a extra proactive function in selling Nigeria’s native content material coverage by highlighting alternatives, monitoring compliance with related legal guidelines and analyzing the consequences of oil and gasoline operations on indigenous companies and host communities, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has acknowledged.
Also, NCDMB in collaboration with Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited launched a 12-month coaching programme at Nigeria Machine Tools Limited, Osogbo, Osun State.
Speaking at a one-day capacity-building workshop for media stakeholders at Golden Tulip Hotel, Awka, on Thursday, October 15, 2026, the Board’s General Manager, Corporate Communications, Dr. Obinna Ezeobi, described journalists as very important companions in implementing the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, 2010.
Ezeobi mentioned the workshop was meant to boost journalists’ information of the NCDMB’s mandate, programmes and interventions, whereas offering them with the talents wanted to report precisely and successfully on the technical points of the oil and gasoline {industry}.
He urged journalists to utilise their platforms to advertise alternatives open to Nigerian companies and professionals, enhance consciousness of presidency initiatives and be certain that {industry} operators complied with native content material obligations.
According to him, the development of Nigerian content material required steady cooperation amongst {industry} operators, authorities companies, companies, host communities, professionals, tutorial establishments and the media.
He mentioned the NCDMB had usually interacted with media organisations nationwide as a result of efficient communication and stakeholder involvement had been important to the success of public insurance policies.
Ezeobi famous that the Board’s Nigerian Content 10-Year Strategic Roadmap, launched in 2017, listed collaboration and stakeholder engagement as key elements in attaining the targets of the native content material coverage.
He clarified that the coverage prolonged past Nigerian participation in oil and gasoline operations, explaining that its wider intention was to construct indigenous experience, reinforce native manufacturing, enhance industrial capability and retain larger financial worth throughout the nation.
He additionally revealed that the Board had been rated Nigeria’s foremost federal company within the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council’s rankings for 4 successive years, from 2022 to 2025.
The Board acknowledged that well-informed and investigative media reporting was essential to making sure that the good points of Nigeria’s native content material coverage produced concrete financial advantages for residents, particularly in states with substantial oil and gasoline assets.
The workshop was the primary version of the NCDMB’s annual media engagement programme within the South-East because the initiative started within the Niger Delta in 2019.
Presenting an summary of the Board’s mandate and accomplishments, the Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, Mr. Silas Omomehin Ajimijaye, mentioned the NCDMB was charged with constructing Nigerian capability whereas guaranteeing that operators adhered to the provisions of the NOGICD Act.
Representing the Executive Secretary, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, Ajimijaye confused that some great benefits of native content material ought to attain past oil-producing communities and the Niger Delta to Nigerians all through the nation.
He suggested entrepreneurs, job seekers and different potential {industry} contributors to enrol on the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Joint Qualification System portal, the place related {industry} alternatives and qualification procedures might be accessed.
Ajimijaye listed a few of the Board’s interventions as facilitating greater than 15 million man-hours of coaching, aiding start-ups in the direction of commercialisation, issuing Nigerian Content Equipment Certificates and creating the $350 million Nigerian Content Intervention Fund.
He added that the Board was finishing up coaching initiatives for hundreds of Nigerians in 10 key areas considered very important to the continued improvement and sustainability of the oil and gasoline {industry}.
The programmes, he defined, had been designed to construct indigenous capability, improve entry to {industry} alternatives and allow Nigerian companies and professionals to compete efficiently within the sector.
The NCDMB officers confused that journalists wanted to grasp these initiatives and the regulatory construction guiding the {industry} so they may give the general public dependable info and assess whether or not the targets of the native content material coverage had been being fulfilled.
The workshop additionally highlighted the significance of Anambra State changing its pure useful resource wealth into industrial enlargement, job creation and higher financial prospects.
The state Commissioner for Information and Value Reformation, Dr Law Mefor, who represented Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, mentioned Anambra possessed an estimated 30 trillion cubic ft of pure gasoline reserves, accounting for roughly 15 per cent of Nigeria’s complete reserves.
Mefor voiced concern that the state had not maximised the advantages of its gasoline assets and had beforehand been excluded from gasoline improvement programmes.
He mentioned the Soludo administration was dedicated to creating Anambra a hub for gas-based industrial improvement, including that correct utilisation of the useful resource might drive industrial development, help energy technology and create jobs.
He praised the NCDMB for taking the capacity-building programme to the South-East and expressed hope that elevated media participation would enhance public information of alternatives throughout the {industry}.
Mefor additionally pledged to current the workshop’s message to the governor.
The NCDMB described Anambra as a strategic venue for the engagement due to its standing as an oil-producing state, its estimated preliminary output of about 3,000 barrels of crude oil every day and the presence of main indigenous oil and gasoline corporations.
Notable indigenous operators linked to the state embody Oilserv, established by Engr. Emeka Okwuosa, and the Nestoil Group, based by Dr Ernest Nnaemeka Azudialu-Obiejesi.
The Board mentioned the state’s rising significance within the {industry} made it mandatory for journalists to grasp the alternatives obtainable to its folks and companies by the native content material framework.
In addition to coverage training, the workshop included classes aimed toward enhancing journalists’ skilled skills, strengthening their reporting of difficult {industry} issues and serving to them produce participating tales able to competing for nationwide journalism awards.
The programme additionally explored the connection between Nigerian content material and group improvement, emphasising the necessity for media studies to hyperlink {industry} operations with their broader financial and social results.
Participants praised the Board for bringing the programme to the South-East and requested continued capacity-building actions to enhance journalists’ information of the oil and gasoline sector.
The occasion was attended by senior NCDMB officers, together with the General Manager, Zonal Coordination, Mr. Ifeanyi Ukoha; Assistant Manager, Corporate Communications, Mr Teddy Bai; and Senior Supervisor, Media Relations, Mr. Ifeanyi Nwokemodo, Dr. Nelson Obinna Omenugha in addition to media professionals from Anambra State.
The workshop concluded with a contemporary attraction for nearer cooperation between the Board and the media to encourage knowledgeable public dialogue, reveal alternatives, enhance accountability and be certain that Nigeria’s native content material coverage produces measurable good points for indigenous enterprises and communities.
NCDMB collaboration with Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited will equip 60 younger Nigerians with specialised experience in oil and gasoline engineering in addition to different vital technical abilities, fostering a brand new technology of industry-ready professionals.
The programme is on the again of the Nigerian Content Human Capacity Development (NCHCD) Training Programme for Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited’s EPU Phase 2 Gas Development Project.
It is designed to equip contributors with superior technical experience with the curriculum spanning engineering design, fitter machining, typical machine instrument operations, programming, computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), electrical and mechanical upkeep, and doc management.
Structured over 12 months, the programme combines six months of intensive classroom instruction with six months of supervised on-the-job coaching in respected corporations.
Graduates are anticipated to earn internationally acknowledged certifications upon completion.
At the official launch held at Nigeria Machine Tools Limited, Osogbo, Osun State, NCDMB’s Director of Capacity Building, Mr. Abayomi Bamidele, reaffirmed the Board’s dedication to bridging vital technical abilities gaps in Nigeria’s oil and gasoline {industry}.
Represented by Mr. Tare Bufazi, Assistant Manager, Human Capacity Development, Bamidele described the initiative as a strategic intervention to handle manpower shortages and put together Nigerians for significant participation throughout the oil and gasoline worth chain.
“The importance of this programme cannot be overstated,” he famous, revealing that the 60 trainees—comprising 33 graduates and 27 vocational trainees—would endure specialised coaching tailor-made to {industry} wants.
He emphasised that NCDMB’s mission extends past selling native participation to constructing the technical capabilities required to maintain the sector. Human capability improvement, he confused, is central to strengthening native content material, creating alternatives, and advancing the federal authorities’s industrialisation agenda.
Bamidele urged contributors to strategy the programme with self-discipline and dedication, highlighting that it presents greater than certificates—it builds sensible competence {and professional} expertise for long-term careers.
He additionally acknowledged the contributions of Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, Seflam SGL, and Nigeria Machine Tools, whose collaboration made the initiative attainable.
Speaking on behalf of Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, Mr. Richard Oyiborhor, Interface and Integration Manager for the NLNG Supply Project, reiterated the corporate’s dedication to nurturing Nigerian expertise and strengthening native capabilities.
He recommended NCDMB’s management in advancing Nigerian content material and praised the partnership with Seflam SGL and Nigeria Machine Tools as a significant step in creating the nation’s industrial workforce.
Senior Manager, Business Interface at Seflam SGL, Mrs Bisola Agboluaje, congratulated the trainees and traced the programme’s origins to 2024, when NCDMB permitted the coaching plans. She described the initiative as a forward-looking funding in Nigeria’s technical expertise pool.
Nigeria Machine Tools’ Chief Operating Officer, Ms. Obehi Ojeagha, welcomed the contributors and lauded the collaboration.
She emphasised the establishment’s 46-year legacy in supporting Nigeria’s industrial improvement and expressed confidence that the trainees would purchase the talents, self-discipline, and expertise wanted to contribute meaningfully to the oil and gasoline sector.
