Engr. Simbi Wabote, Executive Secretary, NCDMB
-By Felix Douglas
…Research and Development created avenue for Industrial Revolution.
…Research and Development is essential for sustainable Local Content practice.
…NCDMB Roadmap implementation has increased Nigerian Content level to 35% from the 26% level in 2017.
The Executive Secretary (ES) of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engineer Simbi Wabote, spoke at the second edition of the NCDMB Research and Development (R&D) Fair and Conference 2021 during his opening remarks that R&D is pivotal to the growth and development of any nation and evolution of mankind. “Right from the days of the cave men to the current age of global connectivity, Research and Development always play crucial role in opening up new chapters of modern life.”
He submitted that R&D led to the first industrial revolution in the 18th century with the emergence of the steam engines. The discovery of electricity and its application in mass production in the 19th century marked the era of the second industrial revolution. The 20th century witnessed the era of the internet with the World Wide Web being the vogue of the third industrial revolution.
“We are in the era of the fourth industrial revolution with cloud computing, Internet of Things, Robotics, Big Data, Artificial Intelligent and many more being the hallmark of the current age.
Once upon a time, it would have been unthinkable that I would be standing here in Yenagoa while conference participants hear and see me live by clicking a link on their devices. Such capabilities were associated with witches and wizards and it could only happen under the cover of darkness. These days, we are more or less taking such capability for granted.”
Wabote stated that the fourth industrial revolution has made it possible to order for a private jet from hand phone or see who is at the door while on a business trip. All these are made possible via R&D and the end has not been seen yet.
“There will be more industrial revolutions down the line and the question is why we are not at the forefront of the discoveries or innovate to adapt existing technologies to our needs?
Analysis of global practices of Research and Development revealed that the combined R&D spend of just five countries makes up 63.5% of the entire global R&D spend
These five countries, namely USA, China, Japan, Germany, and India were also observed to have accounted for over 50% of the global Gross Domestic Products.”
Africa, on the other hand, accounted for less than one percent (1%) of the global R&D spend while its GDP is only 3% of the global GDP. There is a nexus between the spend on R&D and economic prosperity.
The industrial revolutions triggered by R&D have always serve as a means of wealth transfer. According to Statistics, as of the second quarter of 2021, around 67 percent of Apple’s revenue was generated outside of the United States. Apple’s total net sales amounted to around 90 billion U.S dollars in that quarter.
The ES said it is time to start to nurture the growth of home-grown technology rather than being a wholesome consumer of other people’s innovation. The second reason why NCDMB is focusing energy on R&D is that it is one of the six parameters which are essential for sustainable Local Content practice.
Wabote highlighted five other parameters which include an enabling regulatory framework backed with appropriate legislation such as the NOGICD Act and rigorous implementation of the provisions contained therein.
Periodic gap analysis to determine gaps that needed to be closed in areas of skills, facilities and infrastructure such as the monitoring of the level of Nigeria Content in the oil and gas industry.
Structured capacity building intervention to close identified gaps and spur domiciliation of capabilities in-country such as the construction of the NOGAPS industrial parks to domicile manufacturing
Fiscal and monetary incentives to attract new investments and keep existing businesses afloat as demonstrated in the creation of $350million Nigerian Content Intervention Fund and the various partnerships to develop modular refineries in Imo, Edo, and Bayelsa States as well as the gas-based industries for LPG cylinders manufacturing, gas processing, CNG facilities, methanol plant, LPG terminals, and others across the country.
Creation of access to market to enhance patronage of goods and services generated from established capacities. NCDMB has used various tools such as the Nigerian Content Plan to ensure businesses in-country enjoy the right of first refusal.
The ES explained further that the third reason is that the Board’s activities regarding promotion of R&D in the oil and gas industry is in line with the provisions of the Nigerian oil and gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act of 2010.
The authors of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act of 2010 recognized the importance of R&D and included key provisions in the Act.
He said specifically, sections 36, 37, 38, and 39, of the NOGICD Act are dedicated to promoting R&D. For example “Section 37 states that for every project for which a plan is submitted, an operator shall carry out a program and make expenditure to the satisfaction of the Board for the promotion of education, attachments, training, research and development in Nigeria in relation to its work programme and activities.”
Aside from these provisions, the Board commenced the implementation of the 10-Year Strategic roadmap in 2018 which seeks to increase the level of Nigerian Content in the oil and gas industry to 70% by the year 2027.
The 10-Year Roadmap consists of five pillars and four enablers. The pillar on Technical Capability Development contains initiatives to further drive the delivery R&D in oil and gas industry.
The enabler on research and statistics cover the initiatives required to conduct research in key areas to generate new evidence to address industry knowledge gaps and operational challenges. In order to drive these initiatives, NCDMB created a full division in one of its directorates to implement initiatives and provisions contained in the NOGICD Act.
According to Wabote, this will ensure fulfilment of NCDMB mandate and enhance delivery of its target of 70% Nigerian Content target. The roadmap implementation has increased Nigerian Content level to 35% from the 26% level in 2017.
Although COVID-19 affected NCDMB in deployment of its initiatives, the Board used delay period to perfect toolkit deployed to bring R&D to required level in Nigerian oil and gas industry.
NCDMB is also ready to embark on a roadshow to showcase various initiatives to stakeholder groups.
Wabote disclosed that he will be leading a team to visit some universities in the country as the academic community represents a key constituency in the implementation of R&D initiatives.
R&D is at the core of industrial revolutions witnessed over the ages. It is important that countries deploy means of nurturing home-grown R&D as a means of wealth creation and growth.
The Board recognises that R&D is one of the key parameters required for sustainable local content practice.
In addition, NOGICD Act contains specific provisions which forms part of the mandate of NCDMB.
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