The newly appointed Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Arch. Denzil Amagbe Kentebe has formally taken over the mantle of office from the pioneer Executive Secretary, Dr. Ernest Nwapa, with a promise to deepen the implementation process and break new grounds in the attainment of Nigerian Content goals.
Speaking at the handover ceremony held at the Board’s headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Arch Kentebe assured stakeholders of the industry that the tempo of Nigerian Content implementation would be sustained and improved upon to derive more benefits for Nigerians from the operations of the oil and gas industry.
The Executive Secretary who thanked President Goodluck Jonathan for the appointment, which affords him the opportunity to serve Nigeria, affirmed that he was passionate about his new assignment and charged staff of the Board adopt the highest levels of passion, responsibility to Nigerians and zero tolerance for corruption in the discharge their duties. He stressed that passion was the key ingredient needed to implement the provisions of the Nigerian Content Act and meet the expectations of Nigerians.
He said, “I have a lot of passion for what I am about to begin and for us to move forward as a country we need to believe in ourselves and we need to develop the capacity to do things that we would export to the world.”
He commended the pioneer Executive Secretary and staff of the Board for the achievements they recorded in implementing the Nigerian Content Act in the first five years of the Board and promised that his leadership would work to improve on the accomplishments. According to him, “I have followed NCDMB for a while and what we are doing today is not to fix something but to build on what was started off on a wonderful manner. We are going to build on that foundation and I appeal for everyone’s cooperation.”
Earlier in his valedictory speech, Dr. Ernest Nwapa thanked President Goodluck Jonathan and the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke for opportunity that gave him to lead NCDMB and the unflinching support they provided for the implementation process.
He charged stakeholders of the industry to support the new leadership of the Board, assuring that Nigerians Content implementation had become institutionalized as a philosophy of industry operations, adding that provisions of the Nigerian Content Act and guidelines issued by the Board would continue to protect and give advantage to investments made in-country in support of the industry.
“The provisions of the Nigerians Content Act are very clear to the industry. Anybody doing a project or any operations in the oil and gas industry today asks questions about Nigerian Content and that is something we all should be proud of. All we need to do is to continue building on the achievements.
Nwapa who gave a brief summary of the Board’s operations and major initiatives assured that staff of the Board were highly skilled and professional, charging them to cooperate with his successor to realize the mandate of the Board. He explained that the change in leadership of the Board provided an opportunity to reinvigorate and explore new strategies for strengthening the implementation process. “It is the duty of the staff to support the new leader and the management team that he would set up. Change provides additional opportunity” he added.
The event ended with the symbolic signing and exchange of handover notes between the pioneer Executive Secretary and his successor.
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