NCDMB Harps On Rail Development As Catalyst For Economic Growth

The federal government’s focus on rail projects abandoned for three decades will catalyse commerce and reduce unemployment across the country according to the executive secretary/CEO, Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB),Engr.Simbi Wabote. Wabote made this known recently in Lagos at a one-day sensitisation seminar on Local Content Development in Shipping, Oil and Gas Logistics Operations in Nigeria, organised by Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN). Represented by the general manager, Communications, of the board Dr. Ginah Olony, he said that the focus on rail development particularly the Warri-Itakpe Standard gauge railway line would enhance the revamping of the steel industry, which would in turn accelerate local content performance in the oil and gas industry and linkage sectors. The Board has also said that it has grown the nation’s local content inputs in the oil and gas sector by over 28 per cent in the last eight years when it was created just about 35 vessels operating in the oil and gas sector are owned by Nigerians The executive secretary reiterated the Board’s determination to collaborate with other stakeholders, including the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), to implement and enforce the provisions of the laws in the Nigerian oil and gas sector. Manager of the board in charge of corporate communications, Mr. Naboth Onyesoh, said that the Board would leave no stone unturned in discharging its mandates of developing and monitoring the growth of the local inputs in the oil and gas sector. While acknowledging the fact that the Board has deposited $200million with the Bank of Industry (BoI) for disbursement to genuine contributors as well as community contractors, he said the new management of the Board was working with the BoI towards ensuring that more cheap funds were made available to indigenous operators through the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund (NCIF).