-By Kenny Folarin
The President of the Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria, (OGTAN), Dr. Mayowa Afe, has stated that the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content (NOGIC) Act 2010, has enabled Nigeria to save $2 billion.
He added that the Act has created 38,000 job opportunities since its enactment under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Afe, who stated this in Lagos, during an interactive session with journalists, said many Nigerians have been engaged in the oil and gas industry as a result of the local content policy.
He, however, advised that such progress must be sustained, adding: “the Act created the industry we have today that has entrenched capacity building in Nigeria oil and gas industry.”
According to him, “we will be at the fore front of ensuring the domiciliation of human capacity development programmes in the country to reduce capital flight as digitalization is changing the trends of things, and ensure that the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) policy of allocating one to three per cent of major oil projects goes into training of Nigerians.”
On the 2020 budget, Afe noted that as a sector driven by international policy, governments determination to pursue three million barrels per day (bpd) would be achieved if all the stakeholders continue to work together.
“2.18mbp of crude production benchmark for the 2020 budget is achievable considering the relative security stability; I urge governments to engage youths, communities around production environment to sustain the progress of the sector,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Publicity Secretary of OGTAN, Mr. Dapo Omolade, who disclosed that the association has over 400 members, appealed to government to fund indigenous training companies towards achieving the mission of the association.
“We are categorizing our members to build curriculum that can match certification courses issued by international organization within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS),” he added.