Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has charged the new management of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to improve on the performance of their predecessors, saying his administration will continue to support the organisation’s effort to develop local content.
Governor Diri stated this when the recently appointed board members led by the Executive Secretary Mr. Felix Omashola-Ogbe, paid him a courtesy visit in Government House, Yenagoa on Thursday.
A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, quoted the governor as saying that as the host state, the Bayelsa government will cooperate and partner with the NCDMB to ensure it achieves its set objectives.
Governor Diri congratulated the Executive Secretary and the board members on their appointment by President Bola Tinubu and urged them to perform optimally in order to change the narrative in the country’s oil and gas sector.
He also charged the management to be guided by the agitations that resulted in the establishment of the organisation, whereby oil and gas host communities were neglected and treated like second-class citizens in the management of their own natural resources.
The Bayelsa helmsman stressed that the Niger Delta people, who constituted the local content of the oil industry, must take the driver’s seat and tasked the board to make that one of its goals.
He said: “I thank you for stating the obvious and that is, we must work, partner and cooperate to ensure that your being here as Executive Secretary and management will add value to the lives and people of Bayelsa State and indeed Nigerians.
“So, on behalf of the state and the Prosperity Government, we say congratulations on your appointment by the President.
“We believe that this is one area that if you perform well, you will change the narrative about the oil and gas industry. Part of our challenges here is that the oil and gas industry has not taken along the local content, that is the people of the Niger Delta.
“That has been the outcry. It has been so exclusive as though we do not have qualified people. It is like the people who actually have these resources on their land should not be part of the management and exploitation. I think it was that cry that eventually led to the creation of the NCDMB.
“So we believe that you will improve on the performance of previous managements. They did well, no doubt. But for any new man, you have to set goals for yourself and improve on the records of your predecessors.”
In his remarks, the NCDMB Executive Secretary, Mr. Felix Omashola-Ogbe, said the visit was to officially introduce the newly-constituted board to the governor and to pledge their willingness to continue the partnership with the Bayelsa State government.
Mr. Omashola-Ogbe promised that the new management will continue and complete projects inherited from previous administrations in order to have a successful tenure.