The Minister of Petroleum
Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison Madueke, said four years into the implementation of the Local Content Law, it has become a crucial aspect in the execution strategies for every activity in the oil and gas industry.
Mrs Allison-Madueke stated this while speaking at the 4th edition of the three-day Nigerian Practical Content Conference with the theme, “Achieving Nigerian Content in Today’s Operating Environment”, at the Banquet Hall of Government House in Yenagoa.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Dr.JemilaShuara, the minister highlighted some of the benefits arising from the implementation of the Nigerian Content policy, which she said had witnessed “rapid growth in indigenous capabilities, including increased capacity of engineering design companies.
Recounting the achievements of the board, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Engr. Ernest Nwapa, noted that in the past 4 years, the Nigerian Content Law passed by the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration has transformed the entire oil and gas industry and the national economy.
Declaring the conference open, the Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson called on the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, (NCDMB) to ensure that, the Nigerian Content Policywas translated into the creation of employment opportunities, particularly for Bayelsans to reflect the state’s contributions to the development of the national economy.
Governor  Dickson said that the government was willing to work with the board to explore areas of collaboration on a number of the state’s developmental initiatives such as the education and agricultural sectors to advance the cause of human capacity development in creating skills and jobs for the people.
“By next year, I will be interested in the statistics of how many local content jobs that have been created for Bayelsans. I say this, because while it is good to talk about Nigerian Content, as Governor of Bayelsa State and knowing what our people have gone through, and Bayelsa; now being acknowledged as the headquarters of the local content development, I’m sure my good friend Ernest Nwapa and the Hon. Minister of Petroleum Resources will also be interested in the Bayelsa Content. So, we are actually talking about two contents; you have the larger Nigerian Content and then for us here, we are also interested in the Bayelsan Content.
“In essence, when we assemble here again by next year, we should be able to tell Bayelsans the practical benefits of our new found and rightly deserved position as the headquarters of Content Development in Nigeria,” he said.
While applauding the Federal Government for its efforts in creating employment for Nigerians, through the instrumentality of the local content policy, the Governor described the initiative as second to none.