As part of efforts to enhance the capacity of its staff to effectively lead and regulate the oil and gas industry, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), on Thursday inaugurated its LearnFest Lecture Series, a platform for continuous learning among staff and oil and gas industry stakeholders.
LearnFest, an initiative under the Nigerian Content Academy (NCA), a specialised knowledge-sharing and training arm of the agency, will provide trainings on the mandate and inner workings of the Board. By it staff would understand “how everything fits together.” Ultimately, “When we understand what others do, we collaborate better, support one another better, and work as one integrated ecosystem.”
Attended by all staff at the corporate headquarters in Yenagoa, the three-hour event was focused on raising awareness of the different directorates of the organisation, their constituent divisions and departments, as well as their specific responsibilities and how they function individually and collectively to advance corporate goals and objectives.
In opening remarks at the event, the Director, Capacity Building Directorate, Engr. Abayomi Bamidele, stated that the LearnFest Lecture Series was informed by the need to create an understanding of Nigerian Content tools and processes among staff and other oil and gas industry stakeholders.
Industry players, he explained, need to understand and interpret the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, 2010, operational principles as enshrined in the NCDMB Guideline for Nigerian Content Human Capital Development Implementation Strategy, the Nigerian Content Compliance Certificate (NCCC), Nigerian Content Plan (NCP), statutory reporting and matters relating to expatriate quota.LearnFest, he pointed out, “will make our work easier.”
In the first presentation under the Lecture Series, the Manager, Planning and Policy Development Department, Engr. MofeMegbele, spoke on the theme “Understanding the Activities and Processes of the Planning, Research and Statistics Directorate,” with subheadings such as “Operating Framework for Planning Research and Statistics (PRS),” “Overview of Planning and Policy Development Department (PPD),” “Expatriate Quota,” and “Inter-Directorate/Division Relations,” “Research and Development Programme,” “Technology Commercialisation and Innovation,” “Overview of R&D Infrastructure,” “NOGIC JQS/NOGIC JQS User Communication,” “NCCF Objectives,”and “E-Marketplace and Stakeholders Engagement.”
He said the Directorate comprised two major Divisions, namely, PPD and Research and Statistics Development Division,” both of which are headed by General Managers. PPD, he explained, was established in September 2018 under Section 70 of the NOGICD Act, and has been responsible for “policies and guidelines for internal and external stakeholders,” whose implementation it also monitors.
The LearnFest Lecture Series will hold monthly for the next nine months, with a specific Directorate featured in each edition. Attendance, online and in-person, is mandatory for all staff of the NCDMB, while other oil and gas industry stakeholders could participate in subsequent editions.
