Nigeria Content Online

The chairman of the
House of Representatives Subcommittee on Gas, Tam Brisibe says the new
bill on local contents in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, recently
passed by the two chambers of the National Assembly, will eradicate
youth restiveness in the Niger Delta region.

He also said that
the acting president, Goodluck Jonathan will be making history if he
assents to the bill, which has already been forwarded to him by the
Clerk of the National Assembly.

If signed into law,
the bill sponsored by Senator Lee Maeba (PDP, Rivers) will be the first
member bill to be assented to by the present administration.

Mr. Brisibe told
journalists in Abuja at the weekend that the youth in the oil producing
communities would have access to employment opportunities when the law
comes into effect.

The lawmaker, who
represents Burutu federal constituency of Delta State, said the passage
of the bill marks a watershed in the accelerated development of the oil
and gas industry in the country.

Empowered Nigerians

He explained that
with law in place, all international oil companies (IOC) operating in
the Niger Delta will not only establish offices in their host
communities but also employ a particular percentage of indigenous
youth, thereby ending idleness.

He added that in
order to ensure that Nigeria’s interest is protected, the bill also
provides that, where applicable, before carrying out any work or
activity in Nigeria, the operator will establish, in the catchment area
where the project is to located, a project office where project
management and procurement decision making are to take place.

“Where Nigerians
are not employed because of their lack of training, the operator shall
ensure, to the satisfaction of the Board that every reasonable effort
is made within a reasonable time to supply such training locally or
elsewhere,” Mr. Brisibe he added.

The objectives

He also commended
the provisions of section 35 of the law, which says that “all operators
and companies operating in the Nigeria oil and gas industry shall
employ only Nigerians in their junior and intermediate cadre or any
other corresponding grades designated by the operator or company.” Mr
Brisibe, a former chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum
Resources (Upstream) proposed that the Nigerian Content Division of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation should be allowed to form the
nucleus of the Nigerian Content Monitoring Board. This, according to
him, would help to drive the objectives of the law because of the
experience of the members.