…PR
Given the
importance of Research and Development to growing Nigerian Content in the
oil and gas industry and meeting the objectives of the Nigerian
Content 10-year strategic roadmap, the Nigerian
Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB)
on Wednesday began a 3-day Research and Development (R&D) Zonal
Workshop for oil industry players and the academia.
The
workshop was held at the Federal University of
Technology, Owerri (FUTO) in Imo State and it focused on
needs-driven research and how to deepen collaboration and linkages between
the oil and gas industry and the academia.
Other
objectives were to provide a forum for discussions and demonstration
of research breakthroughs on software and hardware as they relate to oil and
gas industry needs, bioremediation, and oil field chemicals
solutions, such as additives and drilling fluids, and renewable solutions to
meet industry needs.
In a keynote
address at the event, the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Engr. Felix
Omatsola Ogbe, said the Board is empowered by Sections 36-39 and 70 (m) of the
Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, 2010, to
“coordinate and superintend over research and development towards developing
Nigerian Content in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.”
He noted
that NCDMB had developed a Research and Development Roadmap, which has
helped to identify critical gaps hampering the research climate
in the oil and gas sector. He added that lack of
research infrastructure, funding, and weak commercial frameworks had
been identified as some of the key challenges and efforts
were being made to close those gaps.
He stated
that NCDMB had made giant strides in implementing the Research and
Development Roadmap. He said that “the establishment of Research Centres
of Excellence in the six geopolitical zones of the country
and the establishment of the R&D Fund to stimulate research in
the oil and gas sector were some of the measures recommended to remedy the
identified gaps.”
The Nigerian
Content Research and Development Fund,” he explained, was launched by the Board
in 2021 “with an initial seed capital of $50 million.” Five percent of
the fund is segmented to support basic, ten
percent is dedicated to applied research while five percent is
dedicated to Endowments. In addition, research centers of excellence gets twenty
percent of the fund, while, while sixty percent of the fund is
committed to the commercialization of research breakthroughs.
The NCDMB
boss affirmed that the commissioning of the Amal Technology Printed
Circuit Board Manufacturing Facility in Abuja was a major
success of the research-related endeavours of the NCDMB. He
noted that the research commercialisation of the Amal
project was achieved through the NCDMB Technology Innovation and
Incubation policy which created the Technology Innovation and Incubation Centre
inside the Nigerian Content Towers at Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
The
Executive Secretary was represented by the General Manager, Planning,
Research and Statistics, NCDMB, Mr. Silas Omomehin Ajimijaye and
he pointed out that the Board’s six research centres of
excellence are hosted by tertiary institutions in different
geopolitical zones.
They are
Niger Delta University, with CoE for Engineering Studies; Federal
University of Technology (FUT), Akure; FUT, Owerri, and FUT, Minna, with CoE in
Geology and Geophysical Studies, Local Raw Materials Substitution, and
Technology Development, Studies, respectively. Modibbo Adama University of
Technology, Yola, with CoE in Safety and Environment
Studies, and Usman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto, with CoE
in Renewable Energy.
In her Welcome
Remarks, the Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Technology Owerri
(FUTO), Prof. (Mrs.) Nnenna Nnannaya Oti, represented by the Deputy Vice
Chancellor (Administration), Prof.C.M Agu, commended NCDMB for establishing the Centre
of Excellence in Local Materials Substitution Studies and acknowledged the
receipt of a research equipment “the Drop Shape Analyser” donated by Chevron
under the Board’s Research and Development Projects.
The
VC lauded the NCDMB for being in the forefront of
fostering Research and Innovation geared at increasing Local Content in the Oil
and Gas Industry. According to the University don, NCDMB has
provided the needed bridge between the academia and industry through Research
and Development round table meetings, R & D Fairs
and establishment of Centre of Excellence in
Universities including FUTO.
She added
that the University’s appreciates the Centre of Excellence status it
enjoys as well as the partnership that has been fostered by the Board over the
years, recalling that computers had been donated to the
university by the NCDMB to aid Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
and digital penetration in the university community and its environs.
In a charge
to all stakeholders, Prof. Agu encouraged participants to utilize the
opportunity to sharpen their skills in proposal writing, explore and exploit
all opportunities for collaboration and linkages both with the available
industries and fellow researchers. He further urged other government agencies
to tow the path of the NCDMB to bring Innovation, Development and Economic
Growth in other sectors.
Delivering
her address on the programme overview, the Managing Director, Wider
Perspectives Limited, Mrs. Edughom Hanson, said the
workshop was geared towards stimulating linkages and collaboration
between academia and industry players within the R&D space, adding
that interactions between oil and gas industry
players, academics, and government (Triple Helix) are
vital to strengthen the country’s national development.
She noted
that, among other objectives, the workshop seeks to develop and
buttress NCDMB’s drive for the actualization of her Research and
Development (R&D) 10–year roadmap; build the capacity of research
directors and lecturers in writing and reading compelling research proposals.
The workshop
is scheduled to be hosted in the six geopolitical zones of the
country where NCDMB domiciled its Centres of
Excellence. The workshop is also intended to enhance capacity building of
research directors and lecturers, particularly in writing and reading
compelling research proposals.