By Kenechukwu Obiajuru, Yenagoa
Bayelsa state governor, Senator Douye Diri, has restated the significance of the road from Nembe to the Brass Island in Brass Local government areas of the state to the country’s economy.
Governor Diri spoke while declaring open the 10th Practical Nigerian Content Conference with the theme “Driving the Nigeria Content in the Dawn of Petroleum Industry Act,” organized by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) at its headquarters in Yenagoa.
The governor reiterated his call to the Federal Government following President Muhammadu Buhari’s Executive Order 7 of 2019 on the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme to construct roads across the country.
The governor as said that given the value of Nembe-Brass road and its capacity to cut the cost of operations of the oil companies in the Brass axis as well as significantly stimulate the economy of the state, there was need for the federal government to construct the road that been on the drawing board for years.
He urged members of the National Assembly from the state to support the move in the interest of the state and the country.
His words: “The federal government through Executive Order 7 of 2019 on the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme, generously indicated that it would be constructing a number of roads in various locations in the country.
“Given the tremendous value of the Nembe-Brass road and its capacity to cut the cost of operations of oil companies and significantly stimulate the economy of the state, I appeal to the federal government to again extend this kind gesture to the Nembe-Brass road.
“In particular, I call on my friend, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, who joined us virtually, that the NNPC should also look towards Bayelsa and the Nembe-Brass road in its proposed plan to construct some roads in the country.
“We call on our legislators in the National Assembly as well as our sons and daughters at the federal level to support this noble move in the interest of our state and our country.”
Governor Diri asserted that the oil and gas industry is big enough to accommodate home-grown companies and urged the NCDMB to see local contractors more as collaborators than as competitors.
He expressed delight that as hosts of the headquarters of the NCDMB, Bayelsa and its government were committed to protecting the only visible federal government presence zealously.
While reassuring that the state was always willing to provide a conducive environment for the oil and gas industry to operate, the governor noted that the state and its people should not be seen as competitors and pushovers where their environment is being destroyed by oil spillages.
He, however, noted that as the transition from fossil fuel to gas draws nearer, the federal government as well as multinational companies should brainstorm on their legacies when the era of crude oil is no more.
In a goodwill message, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, represented by the Director of Human Resources Management, Dr. Famous Eseduwo, called on stakeholders to take advantage of the Petroleum Industry Act to invest in the industry.
Also in his address, the NNPC GMD, Mallam Mele Kyari, expressed the belief that the conference would open a new vista for the local industry players to consolidate on the gains laid by the federal government.
In his keynote address, Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Wabote, enumerated the ten years strategic roadmap of the board, which has been driving the Nigerian content towards the goals embedded in the Petroleum Industry Act.
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