Nigeria is losing oil and gas jobs to China as some international oil companies operating in Nigeria now take their jobs to the Asian country,Mr. Simbi Wabote, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board,has said
Wabote, announced this at the ongoing Nigeria Oil and Gas conference in Abuja.
He also stated that the NCDMB had created a $400m intervention fund for the oil and gas sector, said the drive by IOCs to cut cost at the detriment of Nigeria as their host country should be reconsidered.
He said:”What I see from where I see is a constant battle with some of the IOCs who believe that the only place to carry out their work must be China and not Nigeria.And I’ve said it severally that nobody can compete with the Chinese, not the Europeans, not the Americans. You cannot compete with them when it comes to cost.
“But I think that for a country that you’ve been around for almost 50 years, you must have in your heart on how to develop the country and help the government to create employment and value. But I don’t see it in some of the IOCs that operate in Nigeria.”
Wabote clarified that the NCDMB was not created to block the development of projects by IOCs, rather the agency would continue to support the oil firms in accordance with the law.
According to him, local content must not be seen as a cost centre but part of the business with several benefits for all nations, businesses and investors involved in the practice.
He added:”We in local content believe in balancing cost in whatever we do. But for those who argue about cost, you must also balance the cost discussion with stability in the country.In a country where perhaps you have almost 35 per cent unemployment rate, with bulging youth population, what will you benefit if you take the jobs out of this country to China and then leave that youth population? I can assure you that when you finish your project you cannot operate it.
“This is because you must balance the social need of the people with your craze, crave and drive for cost reduction against the survival of a nation.
“Let me highlight that we are not helpless or oblivious of what to do as a regulator when it comes to dealing with recalcitrant defaulters. We are very pragmatic and only resort to the deployment of our powers when all efforts to bring the offending parties to compliance fail”.
