Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote Executive Secretary Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring (NCDMB)
-By Danlami Nadir Isah
Egr. Simbi K. Wabote was appointed as the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) by President Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR) on the 29th of September 2016. Prior to his appointment, he was an Executive Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Nigeria Limited and the General Manager, Business and Government Relations for Shell Companies in Nigeria (SCiN).
Engr. Wabote joined Shell in September 1991 as an Oil and gas Engineer after a short stint with the Banking industry in Nigeria.
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Dr. Shu’ra Jamila, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote,
President Muhammed Buhari, Chief of Staff to the President Alhaji Abba Kyari, Minister of Petroleum resources, Dr. Ibe
Kachukwu, Chairman of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) Mr. Bank-Anthony Okoroafor and other
Members of NCDMB Governing Council at their inauguration
Prior to taking up his role as an Executive Director of Shell, he had served Shell in various senior positions within and outside the country in Engineering, Contracting & Procurement, External Affairs, and Community Affairs Directorates. As Head of Civil engineering in Shell Eastern Division, he was responsible for major key civil engineering projects for the company, including the Shell Osubi airport in Warri Delta State Nigeria. He served as the National Assembly Relations Adviser to Shell and was the General Manager, Local Content Development, of Shell Exploration Production Company in Nigeria (SEPCiN). He was responsible for the development of Royal Dutch Shell’s local content strategy and framework and supervised Shell Local Content implementation across several countries including Nigeria, Gabon, Brunei, Oman, Kazakhstan, Australia, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan, USA, and new frontier countries for Shell.
Simbi holds an MSc from Leeds Metropolitan University in United Kingdom. He is a Graduate of Civil Engineering from Rivers State University of Science and Technology Port Harcourt and a graduate of INSEAD group leadership programme. He is also a member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, a COREN Registered engineer and a member Institute of Civil Engineers London.
His role as the Executive Secretary, NCDMB is to steer strategic National programmes being implemented by the Board to build capacity and domicile industry activities within Nigeria. He is expected to bring his global experience to bear in re-engineering the Board’s business processes to achieve maximum impact on Nigerian Content development.
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performing the groundbreaking of the Bayelsa Oil and Gas Park at Emeyal 1, Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa State.
In the past two years and five months, Engr. Wabote spearheaded several innovations at the NCDMB, including the launch of the $200m Nigerian Content Intervention Fund (NCI Fund), streamlining of the oil industry contracting cycle time and development of a 10-year Nigerian Content Roadmap.
The Board under Wabote’s watch introduced innovative policies like the promotion of Modular Refineries and begun the construction of Oil and Gas Parks in Bayelsa and Cross River States. He also led the Board to organise the first Oil and Gas R&D Conference and the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Opportunity Fair, to drive innovation and indigenous technological solutions in the Industry and aggregate investment opportunities and spur foreign direct investment respectively.
Simbi, born 2nd February 1966 is a Nigerian from Bayelsa State and is married to Sotonye with three lovely daughters.