By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A collaboration towards ensuring maximum utilization of local capacities in the construction of petroleum refinery plant with 650,000 barrels capacity has been entered into by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and Dangote Industries Limited.
Recently, both parties met in Lagos and agreed to work towards achieving this goal.
Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr Simbi Wabote, led a team from the Board to meet with the management of Dangote Group, led by the President, Mr Aliko Dangote.
During the meeting, Dangote pledged, among other things, to utilize certified Nigerian service companies for the fabrication of modules, pipe coating as well as the supply of paints and cables.
In addition, the two organisations will hold a technical meeting and undertake a tour of the project site to examine extensively other Nigerian Content opportunities that can be utilised on the project.
Responding to the presentation made by the NCDMB boss, outlining existing Nigerian Content capacities and capabilities and how they can contribute to the refinery project, Mr Joseph Makoju, the Honorary Adviser to Mr Dangote, confirmed that “there are a number of opportunities for collaboration. We want to partner with you and we hope to have mutual beneficial relationships.”
Makoju noted that the company planned to set a record on Local Content accomplishment with the petrochemicals plant, which would be biggest single train refinery in the world.
He identified the Dangote Academy as another platform for collaboration, especially as the company was gearing up to extend the institute’s focus from the cement industry to include the petroleum industry and other key sectors that it operates.
Earlier in his presentation, Mr Wabote commended the President of Dangote Group for his investments in manufacturing across sectors of the economy, which has created employments for thousands of Nigerians.He expressed confidence that the company’s foray into the downstream sector of the petroleum industry would revolutionize the sector and reverse the continued dependence of the nation on imported petroleum products.
The Executive Secretary informed the Dangote team that the implementation of Nigerian Content Act in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry had developed huge capacities that should be leveraged for the refinery project.
He advised the company to pay assessment visits to oil and gas service companies in Nigeria to verify their capacities and subsequently contract them in line with the provisions of the Nigerian Content Act, which mandates patronage of facilities established in-country.
Mr Wabote clarified that companies operating in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry were excluded from remitting one percent of their contract sums to the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF).
However, the law mandates the downstream companies to abide with other provisions of the act which includes the provision of fair opportunities to Nigerian companies to compete for jobs in the downstream sector.
On the extensive plan to select and train local personnel who would run the refinery proficiently, he encouraged the company to pick the trainees from the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Joint Qualification System (NOGICJQS), which has database of Nigerians with various competencies in the oil and gas sector. He also asked the Dangote Group to engage the Oil and Gas Trainers Association (OGTAN) because members of the group had developed capacity and can provide some of the trainings being envisaged by the company for new hires.
Adedapo Adesanya