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Wabote Emerges Leadership Local Content Champion of the Year
…NCI Fund the most performing funding scheme
AJAGBE ADEYEMI TESLIM
SPONSORED BY: H&H
The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote has been selected as the recipient of the Leadership Local Content Champion of the Year Award by the Board of Editors of the Leadership Group Limited.
Presenting the nomination at the Board’s liaison office in Abuja on Thursday, the Senior Vice Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Leadership Group Limited, Mr. Azubuike Ishiekwene explained that the Executive Secretary NCDMB was selected for the award for championing the development of local content across Nigeria and the African continent and building local capacities in the oil and gas industry.
Other accomplishments referenced by the Leadership team lead included raising the level of Nigerian Content performance in the Nigerian oil and gas industry from 26 percent in 2016 to 52 percent in 2022.
He added that under Engr. Wabote’s watch “the NCDMB developed a 10-year strategic roadmap with the key target of achieving 70 percent Nigerian Content in the oil and gas industry, creating 300,000 direct and indirect jobs and establishing hubs in-country for manufacturing of equipment, components and accessories required by the oil and gas and its linkage sectors.”
Explaining the rationale for organising the Leadership Conference and Awards, Ishiekwene explained that in addition to the media’s responsibility of holding the government and public office holders to account, the media industry was also obligated to promote and encourage excellent performance by deserving public servants and business leaders.
In his remarks, the Executive Secretary thanked the Leadership Group for recognizing the Board’s achievements and impact on Local Content sphere, the oil and gas industry, and the national economy.
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He noted that NCDMB is providing examples for other agencies of the Federal Government in performance and efficient application and utilization of resources.
He added that the Board’s efforts have been recognised nationally and internationally, the latest being the conferment of the Distinguished Capacity Development Award conferred on the Executive Secretary by President Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR) in October 2022 and the recognition accorded to NCDMB as the best among all Ministries, Departments and Agencies in the Executive Order (EO1) performance ranking for Ease of Doing Business from January to June 2022.
Wabote explained that the NCDMB’s only source of funding is the one percent deduction from contracts executed in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry.
