NCDMB Hosts Oil Industry Players, Academia on Research, Innovation

Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa

Oil and gas industry stakeholders and leading academics have begun a three-day Research and Development (R&D) Zonal Workshop at the Niger Delta University (NDU), Amassoma, with special focus on needs-driven research and deepening of collaboration and linkages.

Sponsored by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), the workshop is expected to provide a forum for discussions and demonstration of research breakthroughs on software and hardware as they relate to oil and gas industry needs.

Bio-remediation and related oil field chemicals solutions, such as additives and drilling fluids, and renewable solutions to meet industry needs, it said, will also be in focus at the three days meet.

Scheduled to be hosted in the six geopolitical zones of the country by NCDMB Centres of Excellence in six universities, the workshop is also intended to enhance capacity building of research directors and lecturers, particularly in writing and reading compelling research proposals.

In a keynote address at the Workshop, the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Felix Ogbe, said the establishment of research centres of excellence in the six geopolitical zones of the country and establishment of the R&D fund to stimulate research in the oil and gas sector were some of the measures recommended to remedy the identified gaps.

The Nigerian Content Research and Development Fund (NCRDF), he explained, was launched by the board in 2021 with an initial seed capital of $50 million.

Highlighting a major success in research-related endeavours of the NCDMB, Ogbe said the actualisation of the commissioning of the Amal Technology Printed Circuit Board Manufacturing Facility in Abuja was a result of research commercialisation.

The executive secretary who was represented by the Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, NCDMB, Mr Isaac Yalah, who pointed out that the board created six research centres of excellence hosted by tertiary institutions in different geopolitical zones.

In setting the context of the event, Yalah, described the workshop as “a journey towards fostering collaboration and linkage between industry, academia and government.”

In welcome remarks, the Vice Chancellor, NDU, Prof. Allen Agih, represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration), Prof. Jonah Akekere, highlighted computers donated to the university by the NCDMB to aid Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and digital penetration in the university community and its environs.

Earlier in a programme overview, the Managing Director, Wider Perspectives Ltd., facilitators of the event, Mrs. Edughom Hanson, said interactions between oil and gas industry players, academics and policy-makers are vital for the successes the country seeks in national development.