’Femi Asu
The adoption and implementation of local content policies in key sectors of the economy will address the high unemployment rate in the country, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Mr. Simbi Wabote, has said.
Wabote stated this in his presentation entitled: ‘Addressing Unemployment: Local Content Option,’ at an event organised by the Institute of Directors, Nigeria, in Port Harcourt, according to a statement.
He lamented that for many years, until recently, Nigeria had regarded crude oil as a commodity, instead of a resource, saying this had resulted in the loss of all in-country value-adding activities and opportunities to capture the full benefits of the derivatives of crude oil.
He noted that the enactment of Local Content Law in the oil and gas industry and its implementation had become a game changer, helping Nigeria to retain work, services and spending, which used to leave the country to other parts of the world.
According to Wabote, the essence of local content policy is domiciliation and domestication.
He also lauded the Federal Government’s reinforcement of the Local Content Policy through the issuance of Executive Order 5, designed to boost local content practice in other critical sectors of the economy.
The NCDMB boss stated that with the huge unemployment figure of about 16 million from the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria needed to extend local content practice to other critical sectors like agriculture, Information and Communication Technology, construction, power and manufacturing in order to tackle the scourge of unemployment in the country.
Wabote said for Nigeria to derive full benefits from agriculture, it must look at the various derivatives across agricultural supply chain as to create jobs and boost the economy.
“We must not repeat the mistake of commodity trading with agriculture,” he added.
He commended the current emphasis on agriculture and diversification by the President Muhammad Buhari-led Federal Government.
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