NCDMB, Bayelsa Renew Commitment to Niger Delta Youth Capacity Building

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the Bayelsa State government have reaffirmed their dedication to empowering Bayelsa youths through capacity-building training programs in the oil and gas sector.

This was disclosed yesterday by the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr. Felix Ogbe, during the 2024 Practical Nigerian Content Forum (PNC) Youth Forum held at the Harold Biriye Hall, Govt House, Yenagoa.

Ogbe, Represented by the General Manager Infrastructure and Enterprise Development, emphasized that the Board's primary mandate, as outlined in the NOGIC Act, is to develop capacity and capabilities in Nigeria's oil and gas sector.

He added that capacity development in the Niger Delta region has remained the mandate that NCDMB has been carrying out upon it's inception in 2010.

He said, "In the course of doing this, the NCDMB has created a NOGIC portal where youths are encouraged to login their credentials from which they are been paid for the necessary training facilities that are available in the industry. The board has been doing a lot in this regard and a lot of skills are being developed in the course of doing this. 

"On several occasions, trainings have been organized and for each programme, each project that have been embarked upon by any of the oil and gas industry, there is what we call human capacity development that is at the back of each project and these companies are made to engage youths in the course of training at least to acquire certain skills.

"This has always been taking place, the board has been handling this and lot of other programmes that will create job opportunities for the youths is also been developed. For instance, the industrial park that the board is building at Emeyal 1, which by the time it becomes operational fully, a lot youths will be engaged in that. 

"There is provision for whoever that is doing business in the industry from which they could access certain facilities which is domicile with the Bank of Industry and that applies to everybody as long as your business is conducted in the industry."

Bayelsa State governor, Senator Douye Diri, who was represented by the Commissioner for Youths Development, Hon. Alfred Kemepado Nimizigha, called for more collaboration with the NCDMB in the area of information dissemination, adding that there are a lot that the NCDMB can offer that the youths are not aware of. 

"One of the things we are doing as state government is to establish the process on needs analysis for training so that people are trained to fill in vacancies that are available today and that will be available tomorrow. 

"We as the state government and the Content Development and Management Board, we need to collaborate more in the area of information dissemination because there is a lot that the NCDMB can offer that the youths are not aware of. We need that information dissemination process, make it more active and ensure that it goes wider than it is."

The director general Centre for Youths Development, Comrade Robert Igali, expressed his dissatisfaction that the executive secretary of NCDMB, Engr. Ogbe, Senate Committee for upstream and downstream and other relevant stakeholders in the petroleum industry, could not attend the programme organized for the capacity development of youths in the Niger Delta region.

"I am not satisfied. Why are you organizing a programme as Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board when the executive secretary is not seated? If the youths are the future of the Niger Delta and if we are to have a sustainable peace in the region, that means there should be a priority attention given to the youth engagement. 

"On the issues we are going to raise as part of this engagement, it will not go anywhere. Ordinarily, the Minister in charge of oil should be seated, the Senate Committee for upstream and downstream should be seated, the same thing with the captains of industry- the Shell, Chevron and all the multinational oil companies operating in the Niger Delta, should be seated. 

"All the issues we have raised, the representative of the Executive Secretary has no capacity to answer them. Going forward, I have articulated that by next year, we should be able to have this engagement at the Tower. Why are you taking the youth outside the Tower? 

"If you are looking for solution, there are immediate gains and of course there are long term gains. The immediate gains of engagements, trainings, all the issues that have been raised would have been attended by the ES. The essence of this engagement is not satisfactory for me", Igali said.