By John Ikani
It was a night of colour and revelry at the Nigerian Content Towers, Yenagoa, Corporate Headquarters of Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), as Management, staff and guests rollicked and carolled to close the year 2022.
All attired in white, with few exceptions among guests, the audience had the best of classical music and the like from the globally acclaimed Warri Choral Society, while outstanding Nigerian musicians including Tiwa Savage, and comedians completed the pack.
Tunes from the German-British composer George Handel and the best of Mozart were among musical compositions rendered in classical style by the Warri Choral band.
“It is a night for fun!” exclaimed an elated Executive Secretary, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote, who said it was the appropriate way to end a year in which the NCDMB achieved a milestone in Nigerian Content development, which climbed from 47 to 54 per cent, and the Board had clinched the ‘Best MDA’ Award for Ease of Doing Business and also the Presidential Award for Distinguished Capacity Development.
The NCDMB boss was effusive in his praise of the workforce, whose outstanding performance and productivity had lifted the Board to enviable heights as evidenced by results achieved in the course of the year and preceding years.
“This is a place where we have lots of talents,” he stated adding that sometimes he assigns tasks to employees whose competence he has not tested before, but that they always end up producing the best results.
According to him, “I see people whose thought process is to improve the organisation. Their thought process is how to make a difference,” assuring that the Board would always show appreciation, and endeavour to provide good working conditions.
To the very few whose thought processes are not constructive, he advised them to turn a new leaf and emulate the positive colleagues with sound work ethics. “The thought process we are building is how to add value,” he emphasised.
In line with the Board’s plans for a conducive and safe working environment, he drew attention to the excellent workspace and tools in the imposing edifice, and said work on a creche for nursing mothers in the organisation’s workforce is progressing well and would be completed soon.
A fire truck capable of dealing with emergencies even on the 17th floor of the building has been acquired and would also be commissioned soon, he also confirmed.
Explaining the many different benefits the presence of NCDMB in Yenagoa has continued to attract to Bayelsa State, he said a 204-room hotel of five-star ranking is being built in the vicinity of the Nigerian Content Towers.
As part of activities at the event, awards were given to deserving staff, among them workers who have put in 10 years and above. Among others honoured were pioneer personnel of the Board who were seconded from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Earlier in opening formalities, the Manager, Corporate Communications, Barr. Esueme Dan Kikile, had explained that 54 per cent level in Nigerian Content is an appreciable leap in in-country value retention, as it translates into retention of $54 of every $100 expended by oil and gas companies in industry operations.
Before 2010, the year of enactment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, Nigerian Content was as low as five per cent, and the country bled from capital flight.
