Nigeria Nears 70% Local Content Target As Oil and Gas Skills Spill Into Wider Economy
Nigeria’s drive to retain more value from its oil and gas industry is beginning to pay off, with local participation now standing at 61% and on course to hit the 70% target by 2027, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has said.
Speaking at a one-day media training in Abuja, the board’s Director of Monitoring and Evaluation, Dr Abdulmalik Halilu, said the gains reflect the impact of the country’s ten-year strategic roadmap, which aims to move the sector beyond revenue generation towards domestic value creation.
He pointed to the Nigeria LNG Train Seven project as a major success, noting that it created about 8,000 jobs while strengthening local fabrication and engineering capacity.
According to him, skills developed through oil and gas projects are increasingly being deployed in other sectors such as power and construction.
Dr Halilu also highlighted Nigeria’s push to export its local content model across Africa through the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation and its support for the proposed African Energy Bank.
He added that continuous monitoring has enabled the board to tackle challenges early, stressing that no project has been abandoned since the board’s establishment, despite leadership changes.
Also speaking at the workshop, the board’s General Manager for Corporate Communications, Dr Obinna Ezeobi, said sustained engagement with the media has improved public understanding of the NCDMB’s mandate under the 2010 Local Content Act.
He commended the executive secretary for driving results rather than rhetoric.
The workshop, themed The Role of Media and Communication in Sustaining Nigerian Content Development, also addressed the changing realities of journalism.
A keynote lecture by Leadership newspaper’s Editor-in-Chief, Azu Ishiekwene, urged journalists to rethink traditional business models, warning that digital platforms now capture much of the value from online content.
Mr Ishiekwene called on reporters, particularly those covering specialised beats like energy, to focus on audience ownership, niche reporting and clear content strategies to build sustainable income in the digital age.
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