NCDMB Launches LearnFest to Strengthen Staff Knowledge, Improve Nigerian Content Delivery
Participants
For companies trying to navigate Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, understanding the rules, certification processes and regulatory requirements can often determine how quickly a project moves from planning to execution.
With this in mind, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has launched the LearnFest Lecture Series, an in-house knowledge-sharing initiative aimed at strengthening staff capacity and improving understanding of Nigerian Content processes among industry stakeholders.
The programme was inaugurated at the Board’s corporate headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, under the Nigerian Content Academy (NCA), the specialised training and knowledge-sharing arm of the NCDMB.
The three-hour inaugural session brought together staff from across the organisation and focused on helping employees understand the mandates of the Board’s various directorates, divisions and departments, as well as how their responsibilities connect to the overall objectives of the institution.
The Nigerian Content Academy explained that the Board’s institutional knowledge is spread across seven directorates, each with its own mandate, expertise and processes.
According to the Academy, LearnFest is designed to break down departmental barriers by giving employees a broader understanding of how the different parts of the organisation work together.
“When we understand what others do, we collaborate better, support one another better, and work as one integrated ecosystem,” the Academy stated in a promotional presentation at the event.
Opening the programme, the Director of Capacity Building, Engr. Abayomi Bamidele, said the lecture series was conceived to improve understanding of Nigerian Content tools and processes among NCDMB employees and, ultimately, stakeholders across the oil and gas industry.
Bamidele stressed the importance of industry operators understanding the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act, 2010, as well as the operational principles contained in the NCDMB Guidelines for Nigerian Content Human Capital Development Implementation Strategy.
He identified the Nigerian Content Compliance Certificate (NCCC), Nigerian Content Plan (NCP), statutory reporting requirements and expatriate quota administration as areas where deeper knowledge could help industry participants navigate regulatory processes more effectively.
According to him, LearnFest would make the work of the Board and industry stakeholders easier by improving knowledge of the systems governing Nigerian Content development and compliance.
The initiative is also expected to contribute to the development of a stronger pool of Nigerian Content experts.
Bamidele disclosed that oil and gas operators, service companies, industry associations including the Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria (OGTAN), academic institutions and ministries, departments and agencies had expressed interest in sending personnel to the Nigerian Content Academy for specialised training.
He said the Academy was developing a faculty of resource persons and that LearnFest would provide an opportunity to identify and assess potential members of the faculty.
“The people presenting [the lectures] could form part of our faculty,” he said, explaining that feedback from participants would help determine the suitability of presenters for future training roles.
The NCDMB management has also approved the use of the Board’s purpose-built facility at Opolo, along the Opolo-Elebele Road in Yenagoa, as a training centre for the Nigerian Content Academy.
The inaugural lecture was delivered by the Manager, Planning and Policy Development Department, Engr. Mofe Megbele, who spoke on “Understanding the Activities and Processes of the Planning, Research and Statistics Directorate.”
His presentation examined the operating framework of the Planning, Research and Statistics Directorate, the Planning and Policy Development Department, expatriate quota administration, inter-directorate and inter-division relationships, research and development programmes, technology commercialisation and innovation.
Participants were also taken through NCDMB’s research and development infrastructure, NOGIC-JQS and user communication, the objectives of the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum (NCCF), the e-Marketplace and stakeholder engagement.
Megbele explained that the Planning, Research and Statistics Directorate comprises two major divisions — the Planning and Policy Development Division and the Research and Statistics Development Division — each headed by a General Manager.
He noted that the Planning and Policy Development Department was established in September 2018 pursuant to Section 70 of the NOGICD Act and is responsible for developing policies and guidelines for internal and external stakeholders, as well as monitoring their implementation.
LearnFest is scheduled to hold monthly for the next nine months, with a different NCDMB directorate taking the spotlight at each edition.
Attendance, both physical and online, is mandatory for NCDMB staff, while participation will subsequently be extended to other stakeholders in the oil and gas industry.
For the industry, the broader objective is clear: the more effectively regulatory knowledge moves across institutions and between regulators and operators, the easier it can become for businesses and professionals to understand Nigerian Content requirements, comply with them and contribute to the development of local capacity and opportunities.
