Lagos – Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) on Tuesday urged indigenous companies to emphasise more on the developement local content and human capital.
Mr Chinedu Okoronkwo, IPMAN National President, made the appeal in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Okoronkwo said that building of human and material capacity would curtail foreign exchange and human capital flight.
“If all the petroleum products consumed in the country are locally refined, the country will save costs, conserve needed foreign exchange, eliminate the probability of fraud in subsidy payment and
generate additional foreign exchange from the export of refined petroleum products.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”10″]
“Similarly, with huge gas deposits, Nigeria has been endowed by nature to generate sufficient electricity.
“I acknowledge that some reforms are currently ongoing in this sector. However, government must demonstrate the political will to drive the process to a logical conclusion for the benefit of the country.
“For too long, we have held onto the notion in this country that Nigerians cannot do it.
“This notion has weighed us down as a nation and in times of an international crisis of the nature that we are battling with now, we simply resign to fate and watch what is happening abroad and pray for some kind of miracle.”
He said government and Nigerians should borrow a leaf from counties like Malaysia,
Singapore, Indonesia and South Korea that deeply believe in their capacity.
According to him, increased local capability will increase Nigeria’s competitiveness in the international market and higher Nigerian competitiveness will continue to lead to the well-being of Nigerian citizens.
IPMAN boss also commended the Federal Government for the wisdom and the political will to enact the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act.
He said that the law had created the platform for Nigerians and indigenous companies to take their places in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
Okoronkwo urged the government to empower the agencies charged with the responsibility of monitoring compliance with the law in order to ensure its implementation.
NAN reports that the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) was established by President Goodluck Jonathan following the signing into law of the NOGIC Act on April 22, 2010.
Some of the responsibilities of the board include increasing indigenous participation in the oil and gas industry and building of local capacity and competencies.
Its mandate also cover creating linkages to other sectors of the national economy and boosting industry contributions to the growth of the nation’s National Gross Domestic Product (NAN)
