As the Nigerian oil and gas sector prepares to commemorate 15 years since the enactment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, a new book has been launched, providing an in-depth exploration of the key moments and successes of the local content policy.
Titled “Nigeria’s Local Content: A Journey of Strategic Communication and Economic Transformation”, the book is authored by Dr. Obinna Ezeobi, a senior official at the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB). It delves into how strategic communication, effective stakeholder management, and collaboration within the oil sector were instrumental in advancing Nigeria’s local content policy, transforming it into a national priority that has also influenced several African nations.
The book is written in clear and accessible language, making it easy for a wide range of readers to engage with. It has received endorsements from prominent figures in Nigeria and across Africa’s energy industry. Notable supporters include Dr. Ernest Nwapa, the first Executive Secretary of NCDMB, who wrote a compelling foreword. Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, Secretary General of the African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO), also praised the book, recommending it to policymakers and local content advocates across the continent and beyond. “Local content is an existential policy for African oil producers. Through local content, we derive value from our natural resources, create jobs for our people and develop our economies. To achieve this, effective communication and engagement of key stakeholders are fundamental. This is why I heartily welcome the new book. Nigeria is a role model in local content, and publications like this help the rest of Africa to learn and implement best practices. I recommend it to oil and gas and local content enthusiasts across Africa and beyond,” the APPO Sec-Gen wrote.
Additionally, Engr. Emeka Ene, Chairman of Oildata Group and former Chairman of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), commended the book for documenting the success stories of local content and the significant role of advocacy and stakeholder management.
During the book’s launch in Abuja on Monday, NCDMB Executive Secretary, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogba, commended Dr. Ezeobi for his dedication in documenting Nigeria’s local content journey. He expressed admiration for the book’s aesthetics and quality, announcing that the Board would acquire copies for further distribution.
The 267-page book is divided into five sections, each focusing on different aspects of the oil and gas industry’s development and local content, including the effects of oil company divestments and the role of Presidential Directives in advancing local content. Notable chapters include case studies on the Nigerian Content 10-year strategic roadmap and how strategic communication and stakeholder engagement have supported key initiatives. The book concludes with an analysis of local content compliance, including an empirical study on how communication efforts have impacted compliance among oil and gas companies.
Targeted at a broad audience, including oil and gas professionals, local content practitioners, communication experts, scholars, regulatory bodies, development partners, host community members, and historians, the book aims to help readers better understand how the local content policy works, how it is communicated, and how similar models can be applied elsewhere. Dr. Ezeobi hopes the book will contribute to maximizing value from natural resources, creating jobs, and fostering economic development, as highlighted by Dr. Ibrahim in his endorsement.
About The Author
Dr. Obinna Joseph Ezeobi is a consummate communication professional with several decades of experience in the media and managing communications of a government agency. His career started at the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, now Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), NewsAge and The Punch newspapers, before he was headhunted to join the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) at inception in 2010.
An alumnus of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he studied Mass Communication, he obtained Masters and Doctorate degrees from the University of Port Harcourt, majoring in Energy Communication.
His time as a journalist was quite eventful, covering beats like Sports, Marketing Communications, Economy and Energy, travelling extensively across Nigeria and the globe. This well-rounded experience came in handy when he moved to the NCDMB. His knowledge, expertise and network have been particularly valuable in growing the agency’s brand.
He has been involved in virtually all the communication campaigns and media engagements of the NCDMB, contributing to making the agency one of the most visible, and certainly the most trusted brands amongst government agencies.
An Associate of the ARCON and Member of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Obinna is well versed in Nigeria’s communications landscape and dynamics.
With his frontline role in communicating local content to a wide spectrum of stakeholders, and the successes that have been recorded therefrom, Obinna can be considered the griot of local content, for he is able to bring to the fore information without delay, when the discussion is about local content in the oil and gas industry.
