.Joins Renaissance to coach 60 Nigerians in vital oil, fuel 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 fuel operations on indigenous companies and host communities, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has said.
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 stated the workshop was supposed to reinforce journalists’ information of the NCDMB’s mandate, programmes and interventions, whereas offering them with the abilities wanted to report precisely and successfully on the technical features of the oil and fuel {industry}.
He urged journalists to utilise their platforms to advertise alternatives open to Nigerian companies and professionals, improve consciousness of presidency initiatives and make sure 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 stated the NCDMB had commonly 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 objectives of the native content material coverage.
He clarified that the coverage prolonged past Nigerian participation in oil and fuel operations, explaining that its wider purpose was to construct indigenous experience, reinforce native manufacturing, improve 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 said that well-informed and investigative media reporting was essential to making sure that the positive factors of Nigeria’s native content material coverage produced concrete financial advantages for residents, particularly in states with substantial oil and fuel sources.
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, stated the NCDMB was charged with constructing Nigerian capability whereas making certain that operators adhered to the provisions of the NOGICD Act.
Representing the Executive Secretary, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, Ajimijaye careworn 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 may very well 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 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 thought to be very important to the continued improvement and sustainability of the oil and fuel {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 careworn that journalists wanted to know these initiatives and the regulatory construction guiding the {industry} so they might give the general public dependable data and assess whether or not the objectives 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 growth, job creation and higher financial prospects.
The state Commissioner for Information and Value Reformation, Dr Law Mefor, who represented Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, stated Anambra possessed an estimated 30 trillion cubic toes of pure fuel reserves, accounting for about 15 per cent of Nigeria’s whole reserves.
Mefor voiced concern that the state had not maximised the advantages of its fuel sources and had beforehand been excluded from fuel improvement programmes.
He stated 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 progress, 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 fuel companies.
Notable indigenous operators linked to the state embrace Oilserv, established by Engr. Emeka Okwuosa, and the Nestoil Group, based by Dr Ernest Nnaemeka Azudialu-Obiejesi.
The Board stated the state’s growing significance within the {industry} made it crucial for journalists to know the alternatives obtainable to its folks and companies via the native content material framework.
In addition to coverage training, the workshop included classes geared toward enhancing journalists’ skilled skills, strengthening their reporting of difficult {industry} issues and serving to them produce partaking tales able to competing for nationwide journalism awards.
The programme additionally explored the connection between Nigerian content material and neighborhood improvement, emphasising the necessity for media stories 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 fuel 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 enchantment for nearer cooperation between the Board and the media to encourage knowledgeable public dialogue, reveal alternatives, enhance accountability and make sure that Nigeria’s native content material coverage produces measurable positive factors for indigenous enterprises and communities.
NCDMB collaboration with Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited will equip 60 younger Nigerians with specialised experience in oil and fuel 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 firms.
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 fuel {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 fuel 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 careworn, 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 affords 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 an important 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 accredited 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 abilities, self-discipline, and expertise wanted to contribute meaningfully to the oil and fuel sector.
