From Davies Iheamnachor, Port-Harcourt
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas, Tony Attah, has stated that the recently signed Train 7 project of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited, NLNG, would deepen peace and development in the oil rich Niger Delta area.
Attah also noted that about 55 percent of the scope of work on the project would be domiciled and domesticated in Nigeria, noting that it was to demonstrate that the improved capacity of Nigerian companies and personnel in the petroleum and gas sector, based on the consequences of the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, on the sector.
The NLNG MD revealed this in Port Harcourt, weekend, at a reception by the Junior Chambers International, in honor of Simbi Wabote, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, on his reappointment for a second term of four years by President Muhammadu Buhari.
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Attah, said the efforts of Wabote was the reasons for the commencement of the Train 7 project after the signing of the project contracts in May 13, 2020, despite the COVID- 19 pandemic, adding that the benefits of the project to the area was numerous.
Attah said:”Without the support of the Executive Secretary, personally committing, we might not have Train 7 today. Train 7 signifies 12,000 jobs directly and based on the board’s calculation 40,000 additional jobs indirectly.
“Let me dimension it for you, the relative peace the entire Niger Delta enjoys today known as the Amnesty Programme has been 35,000 individuals who were favorably put to a good and employment. So consider one project that’s bringing the chance of 50,000 people directly or indirectly being gainfully employed then you understand what this man has done for Nigeria and did for Niger Delta.
“Along with that we are talking 55 percent of that scope will be domiciled and domesticated and Nigerians will be directly involved in more than half of the scope of this particular project and we are talking of over $10bn in terms of the overall Train 7 investment.”
However, the Executive Secretary NCDMB, Wabote, said working at the board was exciting and challenging, adding that his participation in Junior Chamber International, JCI, had added more enthusiasm to his determination to offer his best to bring about change in the country, particularly the oil and gas sector.
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He said:”It’s not a piece of cake, it’s a massive challenge and we go through that on a daily basis. In the private sector you understand your stakeholders but when you’re working with the government you do not know who your stakeholders are because they are everywhere and you have to navigate that process and by the grace of God he has always been on our side.
“My participation in Junior Chambers added a lot more zest to whatever I did as a person. This was the organisation that challenged me. It provides all the leadership which you can imagine. What you cannot get elsewhere.”
Vanguard News Nigeria
