NCDMB’s Exec Sec Inspects Training of 305 Youths At Centre For Marine and Offshore

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, visited Rivers State University on Tuesday to inspect the ongoing training of 305 Nigerian youths at the Centre for Marine and Offshore Technology Development (CMOTD). The training, fully sponsored by NCDMB, is designed to equip participants with highly specialised oil and gas industry skills in areas such as automation, instrumentation, mechanical and process piping design, transformer maintenance, ship construction, oil well surveillance, data analytics, and international welding standards.

The four-month programme is a key component of the Board’s Human Capacity Development initiative, aimed at bridging local skill gaps and enhancing indigenous participation in the oil and gas value chain. Participants were selected from the Nigerian Oil and Gas Joint Qualification System (NOGICJQS), the industry’s database of human and technical competencies.

Engr. Ogbe urged trainees to make the most of the opportunity, highlighting that the skills being taught are in high demand both within and outside the oil and gas sector. He reaffirmed NCDMB’s commitment to continuing such training interventions as part of its broader mandate to develop local content and support President Bola Tinubu’s economic agenda.

During his tour, Ogbe also visited the Advanced Marine and Offshore Engineering Research Centre at the university, a project built by an international oil company under the Nigerian Content institutional strengthening framework. He pledged that NCDMB would handle the building’s interior furnishing and partitioning to make it fully functional. He further assured that delays in completing staff quarters built by the Board for the university would be reviewed.

The NCDMB team was warmly received by the university’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Isaac Zeb-Obipi, alongside other top academic and industry figures, including Dr. Sylvanus Eferebo, who heads both CMOTD and the Nigerian Institution of Marine Engineers and Naval Architects (NIMENA). Dr. Eferebo noted that Rivers State University is recognised by COREN as a centre of excellence in marine engineering due to its three dedicated marine study centres and strong industry ties.

He explained that 70 percent of CMOTD trainers are drawn from the oil and gas and related sectors, with the remaining 30 percent coming from academia, ensuring that the training remains industry-relevant and in line with regulatory standards for engineering education in Nigeria.