participation in the Petroleum industry.
The President of the forum, Mr Billy Harry, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt that Nigerians were eager to see its enforcement because of its benefits. "Besides, for such an important policy to succeed, government should partner with key stakeholders including civil societies to monitor its implementation. "Nigerians are in a hurry to see the enforcement of local content act so that the Niger Delta people and Nigerians in general will reap the attendant benefits'', he said.
Harry said if implemented, the law would generate more than 30,000 jobs in the next five years, noting that more than 70 per cent of the jobs in the oil and gas sector were still being done by foreigners.
‘'Stakeholders in the industry argue that government was not serious in attempting to stop this act of cheating because the National Assembly have not progressed the process to
sign the PIB into law. ''We wish to note that such a bill that is geared towards improving indigenous participation in the oil and gas industry, after many years that it was initiated, has not been passed into law.
‘'It is pertinent that all stakeholders work in concert to ensure the PIB is signed into law to guarantee Nigeria's sovereignty in controlling its economy,'' he said. Harry said experts estimate that Nigerian content in the oil and gas sector was around 20 per cent, an indication that most jobs such as engineering, material and maintenance work are provided by foreign workers and overseas suppliers. "The thrust of the Nigerian Content Policy is to promote value addition to the local economy, increase local participation, build local capacity on the back of ongoing projects and generally increase linkage to other sectors of the national economy, to grow local content by 70 per cent,'' he said.
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