Henceforth, one per cent of every contract awarded in the Nigerian oil and gas industry is to be paid into the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) in accordance with the Nigerian Content Act.

Mr Ernest Nwapa, the Acting Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Monitoring Board (NCMB), made the disclosure in Onne, near Port Harcourt, on Thursday, after inspecting the pipe threading yard of a private firm.

 The Tide’s source  reports that NCMB is an off-shoot of the Nigerian Content Bill recently assented into law by President Goodluck Jonathan.

 The NNPC quoted Nwapa in a statement in Abuja on Friday as explaining that the NCDF  would be deployed specifically for developing the capacity of  Nigerian service providers in the oil and gas sector.

 He said the fund would be managed by the board of NCMB and was different from the $350 million Local Content Fund which was put together by NNPC in 2007 to serve as a working capital for Nigerian companies that got service contracts in the industry.

Nwapa said: “In this case, you need to demonstrate the bankability of an investment and the board will begin to talk to you”.

 “You are going to show a business plan and prove that the investment will be able to repay the loan”. 

“The fund will not be managed by engineers or officials of the board. It will be managed by a proper fund manager with international best practices”.

“So, there is no question of utilising the fund for what it is not meant for.”

 Nwapa said the vision of the NCMB was to grow the funds and use it to attract other financial players who would leverage on it such that Nigerian service providers would do business knowing that the fund was available for them to use.

 He said the Nigerian Content Act was very robust as it was put together by legislators who understand the oil  sector with inputs from members of the industry.

 The chief executive called on Nigerian investors to take advantage of the immense opportunities which the Nigerian Content Act had created for them.

 ”Even if you create these opportunities and  Nigerians do not take them, the board would not become manufacturers”.

 “The board would only protect the rights of manufacturers, so Nigerians should take advantage of the law,” Nwapa said.

 He also commended the management of Botro Marine & Oil Services, who he said took a risk to invest in the pipe threading yard in Onne in 2007 because of their confidence in the Nigerian Content Policy.

 ”This is the model we want to see because from cutting these threads, it is no longer in his hands.

 “The next step would be how to think of manufacturing the pipes themselves because the time has come for us to do anything that can be done in Nigeria.

 ”Those machines are not made in Nigeria. The law allows you to bring machines from anywhere to work here and retain capacity in the country.

“It is important to our government and our people that we create opportunities for Nigerians to work here,” Nwapa said.

 He said about 100 companies were operatiing at the Onne Free Trade Zone a few years ago, but the number had swelled to 150.

 Nwapa said the government had the challenge to ensure that service providers at the Onne zone got jobs.

He said that with the Nigeria Content Act now operational, it was no longer at the discretion of officials to decide whether to give jobs to one or two companies.

 ”It is now law and they have a right to challenge anybody who does not give them jobs and rather takes it elsewhere outside Nigeria.

  “President Goodluck Jonathan is bent on ensuring the successful implementation of the Nigerian Content Act.

“He did not keep that bill for more than two weeks before signing it into law and set  up this board immediately.

 “And, he has given us marching orders and already we have hit the ground running,” Nwapa said.

 The source  also reports that Nwapa, until this recent appointment, was the Group General Manager, Nigerian Content Division in NNPC.