Nigeria lost $380bn and two million jobs in the oil and gas industry to foreigners, between 1956 and 2006, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Mr. Ernest Nwapa, has said.Nwapa said this at a Capacity Building Workshop organised for members of the Local Content Committee of the House of Representatives, according to a statement issued on Tuesday by the Public Affairs Officer of the organisation, Mr. Obinna Ezeobi. He explained that the board was implementing the Nigerian Content Act to reverse a situation whereby the Nigerian oil and gas industry merely exported job opportunities and aided capital flight from the economy between 1956 when oil was discovered and 2006 when the Nigerian Content Policy was introduced. He said, "The industry exported two million job opportunities and suffered an estimated capital flight of about $380bn during the 30-year period, with over 95 per cent of industry annual budget expended abroad." Nwapa noted that if the successes being recorded in reversing the trend were consolidated, by 2020, Nigeria would have become the hub for oil and gas services and an estimated $191bn could be retained; 300,000 new job opportunities created in engineering, sciences and technical services and over 65 per cent of industry expenditure domiciled. He drew the attention of the committee members to some policies and practices which impaired local content development in Nigeria such as the Temporary Import Permit for marine vessels. He explained that the TIP not only discouraged the ownership and registration of marine vessels in Nigeria but also gave advantages to foreign vessel owners, who were allowed to pay a token to the government for bringing in their vessels. According to him, it also promotes the practice whereby vessels that work in Nigeria sail to neighbouring countries to meet their TIP conditions and undergo repairs concurrently whereas such maintenance can be done at shipyards in Nigeria. Throwing further light on the boards implementation strategies, the executive secretary said emphasis was being placed on areas with high impact on employment, retention of industry spending, technology transfer and value added services. He identified the marine sector as one of such areas, noting that it used to be dominated by foreign-owned vessels and rig operators, resulting in $3bn capital flight. However, the board has now come up with marine vessel and rigs ownership strategy which has begun to ensure a change in the status quo, he said. The NCDMB boss reported that indigenous players were currently participating fully in the smaller vessel category, thereby retaining about $1bn annual spending in Nigeria while a structured intervention for more Nigerian ownership of the larger offshore vessels had been put in place, with a potential for retaining another $1.5bn in the next two years.He further noted that a number of indigenous players were making efforts to build and acquire vessels but needed funding support and long tenure contracts to protect their investments. Another focus area for the board, according to Nwapa, is the Original Equipment Manufacturing Strategy which requires manufacturers of equipment used in the Nigerian oil and gas industry to domicile the manufacture of certain components in the country, starting from an initial minimum threshold of 10 per cent value of the equipment.
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