By John Ikani
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has been bestowed with the Women in Energy Network’s “Wining With Women Award.”
Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Wabote received the award on behalf of the Board at a dinner organized by WIEN in Abuja on Wednesday.
Presenting the award to the Engr. Wabote, WIEN’s President, Mrs Funmi Ogbue said the NCDMB was found worthy of the distinguished award for being “the most Inclusive Government Agency 2022.”
She explained that the award is an acknowledgement & appreciation of the Board’s dedication to improving the role of women in the Oil & Gas Industry.
Why this matters
The award adds to a growing list of recognitions that have mounted NCDMB’s cabinet under the transformational leadership of Engr. Wabote who has been relentless at initiating, regulating and catalysing new opportunities that engender value-adding activities in-country and on the African continent at large.
The Board which has been dogged in improving the role of women in the Oil & Gas Industry, was in 2022 recognised by the Association of Professional Women Engineers (APWEN) for its numerous women capacity-building initiatives over the years.
Did you know that the NCDMB is perfecting plans to set a minimum percentage of females that must be included in any human capacity development (HCD) programme or any other initiative that it will approve for the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry?
It has also set up a $40m Women in Energy Fund in partnership with the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM Bank).
What’s more, the Board has assured women that they will get special consideration in the allocation of plots at the Board’s nearly-completed industrial parks in Bayelsa and Cross Rivers states.
The NCDMB was established in 2010 by the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, with a core mandate to manage and grow Nigeria’s local content capacity. So far, it has lived up to its mandate.
For more insight into NCDMB’s giant strides under the transformational leadership of Engr. Wabote, see his self-authored chronicle titled: 6 Years Of Raising The Bar In Local Content Development.