Tejiri Ebikem/Francis Sadhere
The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, (NCDMB) Engr. Ernest Nwapa has tasked indigenous Fabricating Companies in the country on the need for them to think ahead and start manufacturing products for the country.
Engr. Nwapa gave the charge when he visited Gramen Petroserve Yard located in Warri, Delta State.
He said instead of looking for contracts that were not readily available, the indigenous Fabricating companies should look for other ways to keep their companies flowing, insisting that there are many things they could do even if mega contracts do not come to them.
Specifically, he advised Gramen Petroserve to start manufacturing domestic gas cylinders which he said are in high demand in the country.
Engr. Nwapa and his team, who took a tour of the facilities in the yard, noted that the essence of building a fabricating company was to create capacity where different things could be manufactured.
While saying that indigenous companies had the capacity to build some of the things they were importing into the state, Engr. Nwapa said the board was looking at making policies that will assist the indigenous companies manufacture products locally.
He said; “We in NCDMB believe that one of the reasons for creating fabricating companies is to create capacity. We want to encourage them to start thinking about manufacturing products that people will buy. So instead of waiting for mega contracts that are not easy to come by, we encourage you to manufacture other products that people need. For example, you should look at manufacturing domestic gas cylinders. Gas cylinders are very essential in every house hold today and people will like to have at least two gas cylinders in their homes. It is difficult to ask oil companies to give contracts to contractors because there are so many contractors waiting for one particular job.”
On the issue of difficulties in getting bank loans by indigenous companies, Engr. Nwapa said the board has set aside grants which can only be assessed if the companies make themselves available to the banks, urging the companies to register with the board so that they can have access to the grants.
He said the board will soon clamp down on any bank that refuses to make the grants available to indigenous companies.
The Executive Secretary of NCDMB also encouraged indigenous companies to always put their heads together and find solutions to any problem that they are faced with.
The Manager, JV Facilities Engineering, Chevron, Engr. Henry Ehonor, who spoke on behalf of the Managing Director, Chevron Nigeria Limited, Mr. Neff Clay, said Chevron is blazing the trail in its effort to comply with the Local Content law of the country, stressing that Chevron was dealing more with local contracting companies.
On his part, the Managing Director Gramen Petroserve, Engr. Amen Aghedo, while thanking Engr. Nwapa and his team for the visit noted that Gramen Petroserve was a hundred percent indigenous company that is poised to serve the country better.
He said the company has spent over a billion naira in building the facility, appealing for assistance from the board to help them build their collapsed jetty.
