Extend Local Content Act To Other Sectors-Lawmaker

A member representating Aguata Federal Constituency of Anambra state, Dominic Okafor has urged the federal government to extend the local content ACT in the oil and Gas industry to other sectors of the Economy.

Okafor who stated this while speaking with newsmen in Abuja noted that the success and accomplishments recorded in the implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act had prompted the clamor for the extension of the law to other sectors.

”most of the contracts that are done in oil and gas are done by expatriates companies until the local content Act was put in place such that unless you don’t have a Nigerian company that do certain jobs, you don’t bring expatriates.

“And what has it helped to do? It helped Nigeria to develop capacity, in technology transfer. It has helped Nigerian companies to a level”.

“Govt say it must be done by a Nigerian company. So what Nigeria can do is to partner with some oversea companies,” he said.

Speaking on Local content in the construction sector, the lawmaker who underscored the need to encourage indigenous participation in the construction sector said no country could develop technologically by depending solely on the expertise of other nationals.

Okafor further explained that this would not only generate employment opportunities for Nigerians, but would also save the country huge foreign exchange being spent on goods and services already available in the country,

“I don’t see why a lot of Governors will not patronise Nigeria industry because practice makes perfect. If you do it over and over again, it becomes perfect”.

“But a situation where they all prefer to give the job, the known names, they are not helping Nigerian business men to grow,”he added.”

The Lawmaker while urging engineers to always adhere to relevant codes of engineering practice, enforce maintenance of discipline and strict standards of ethics in the practice of the engineering profession in Nigeria called on the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN, to put more measures in place to curtail the activities of quacks in the country.

Oduyemi Odumade, Edited By Grace Namiji