By Destiny Obinna
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has launched the LearnFest Lecture Series to improve knowledge-sharing among its staff and stakeholders in the oil and gas industry.
The initiative was inaugurated on Thursday at the Board’s headquarters in Yenagoa to strengthen the capacity of NCDMB personnel to effectively carry out their roles in regulating and developing the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
LearnFest is an initiative of the Nigerian Content Academy (NCA), the Board’s training and knowledge-sharing arm. It is designed to provide structured learning on the mandate, operations and processes of NCDMB.
The three-hour inaugural session focused on the Board’s seven directorates, their divisions and departments, their responsibilities and how they work together to achieve the organisation’s objectives.
In a promotional video, the Academy said knowledge within NCDMB was spread across the seven directorates, each with its own mandate, processes and areas of expertise.
It said LearnFest would help break down institutional silos and encourage better collaboration among departments.
“When we understand what others do, we collaborate better, support one another better, and work as one integrated ecosystem,” the Academy stated.
Speaking at the event, the Director, Capacity Building Directorate, Engr. Abayomi Bamidele, said the lecture series was introduced to deepen understanding of Nigerian Content tools and processes among staff and oil and gas industry stakeholders.
He said industry players needed to understand the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act 2010, NCDMB guidelines, Nigerian Content Compliance Certificate, Nigerian Content Plan, statutory reporting requirements and expatriate quota matters.
Bamidele said LearnFest “will make our work easier,” adding that oil and gas operators, service companies, industry associations, academic institutions and government agencies had expressed interest in specialised training at the Academy.
He also disclosed that the NCA was developing a faculty and said the lecture series would help prepare the ground for its full take-off.
“The people presenting [the lectures] could form part of our faculty,” Bamidele said.
He further disclosed that NCDMB management had approved its purpose-built facility in Opolo, along the Opolo-Elebele Road in Yenagoa, as a training centre for NCA programmes.
The first lecture was delivered by the Manager, Planning and Policy Development Department, Engr. Mofe Megbele, on “Understanding the Activities and Processes of the Planning, Research and Statistics Directorate.”
The presentation covered planning and policy development, expatriate quota, inter-directorate relations, research and development, technology commercialisation and innovation, NOGIC JQS, the Nigerian Content Compliance Framework, e-Marketplace and stakeholder engagement.
Megbele said the directorate comprised two major divisions — Planning and Policy Development and Research and Statistics Development — both headed by general managers.
He explained that the Planning and Policy Development Department was established in September 2018 under Section 70 of the NOGICD Act and is responsible for developing policies and guidelines for internal and external stakeholders and monitoring their implementation.
The LearnFest Lecture Series will hold monthly for the next nine months, with a different directorate featured at each edition.
Attendance, both online and in person, is mandatory for NCDMB staff, while other oil and gas industry stakeholders will be able to participate in subsequent editions.
