Stakeholders Urge Review of NCDMB Act to Accommodate Host Communities

ksmar December 3, 2020 Business, Headlines Leave a comment 706 Views

Stakeholders in the Niger Delta region have called for the amendment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act to include a local benefit plan for host communities.

The call was made during the annual public lecture of the Federated Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Bayelsa State council, on the theme: ‘Ten Years of the NOGIC Act: Achieving 70% Nigerian Content,’ held at the NUJ Press Centre, Yenagoa.

Chairman of the occasion, and retired federal permanent secretary, Ambassador Boladei Igali, lamented that host communities were still ignorant of the provisions of the Act, adding that the local folks should be sensitized on the provisions of the Act.

Igali, who was represented by the chairman of the Civil Liberties Organization, CLO, Chief Nengi James, while commending the Correspondents Chapel for organising the lecture, called for the domestication of the Act to accommodate local realities.

In his lecture, titled: ‘Ten Years of the NOGIC Act: Achieving 70% Nigerian Content,’ the guest lecturer and director-general of the Yenagoa Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, YECCIMA, Mr. Warmate Jones, whose paper was titled ‘Assessing the Impact of NOGIC Act on Local Businesses in Niger Delta,’ said the NCDMB is yet to achieve the projected 70 Nigerian Content, pointing out that only 30% has been achieved so far.

He noted that the NCDMB has stated that they hope to achieve the strategic roadmap in 2027, as well as 300,000 jobs.

On the amendment of the NOGIC Act, he highlighted that Sections 7, 10, 13 and 15 need to be amended to include a local benefit plan, and proposed that a minimum of 40% of all in-country services for purchases to made from within the production areas of the oil industry.

He said, “The NCDMB should review its ten years strategic roadmap to include projections or retaining a minimum of 30% of industry spent by 2027, and 100,000 of projected 300,000 jobs in the Niger Delta.

“To initiate an amendment to Section 3, sub section 1 and 2 of the Act to accommodate a minimum percentage for the award of oil bloc, field license and oil lifting licenses to companies indigenous to and in the Niger Delta. Provide 20-30 funding assistant for local content fund to companies or businesses in the Niger Delta that are utilizing crude oil and gas products or by-products in their production.”

In his remarks, the commissioner for Mineral Resources, Dr. Ibiere Jones, said the state government has been providing the enabling environment for the multinational oil companies to peaceful coexist with their host communities.

Earlier, the acting chairman of the Federated Correspondents Chapel, Mr. Chris Eze, said the lecture was to provoke discourse and commentaries and appraise the enforcement of the NOGIC Act ten years after its enactment.

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ANLCA, MWUN, Others Threaten Shutdown over Port Roads, E-Call Up at Onne

By Paul Williams   Freight forwarders and truckers at Onne Port in Rivers State have threatened to shut down operations over the poor condition of the port’s access roads and the manner in which the e-call-up system recently introduced by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) is being implemented.  Six associations operating at the port, along with the Onne Youths Congress, the umbrella body for youths in Onne Community, noted that despite the huge resources accruing from Onne Port, the access roads leading to the port had become a death trap.  The associations on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, issued a four-day ultimatum to the Federal Government and the Nigerian Ports Authority to suspend the e-call-up system until facilities such as loading bays are provided and dilapidated access roads are repaired.  Chairman of ANLCA, Onne Seaport Chapter, Chief Ifeanyi Isikaku, while reading a communique, expressed the associations’ deep concern and frustration over worsening operating conditions for members and the host community.  The unions said NPA rolled out the e-call-up system without first providing adequate holding bays, prompting “the unabated illegal parking of trucks on Onne roads that has choked traffic, damaged goods and exposed workers and residents to danger.”  They also described the port’s internal access roads as “deplorable” and a “death trap,” blaming the road condition for container-fall incidents, injuries and loss of life.  Isikaku said, “We can no longer tolerate unfulfilled NPA commitments and roads that endanger lives and destroy goods. If holding bays had been provided before the e-call-up rollout, this crisis would have been avoided.”  He pointed out that the situation is unfortunate for a port that has contributed up to N487 billion in Customs revenue alone to the federal coffers.  Isikaku said Customs revenue from Onne Port Command between January and July 2026 was approximately N439 billion, with an additional N48 billion from the Oil and Gas Free Zone — a combined N487 billion over seven months.  He called on the Federal Government, through the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, to allocate a portion of that revenue to fix and maintain internal roads and port facilities.  “Onne contributes significantly to national revenue; a fraction of the N487 billion collected between January and July should be used to repair our roads and protect workers and the host community,” he said.  The unions, among other things, demanded an immediate end to illegal parking on Onne roads to restore free traffic flow, urgent maintenance and repair of all internal access roads to prevent container falls and safeguard lives, and a ban on members’ participation in arbitrary or bogus payments associated with the e-call-up system and port transport.  Chairman of the Maritime Union of Nigeria, Eastern Port, Uche Ogbu, whose union bears the brunt of the dilapidated roads, said, “Our members will not be compelled to make arbitrary payments for a system that lacks the infrastructure to work.”  He noted the unions’ resolve on the suspension of the e-call-up system from Monday, August 17, 2026, until adequate holding bays are constructed to accommodate current truck volumes; the suspension will remain in place until all listed challenges are addressed.  …

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