NCDMB Official says no plans to relocate from Bayelsa

 
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has debunked claims of relocating its headquarters from Yenagoa, Bayelsa State to Lagos State. This was made known by the Executive Secretary, Mr. Simbi Wabote.

The rebuttal came following a demonstration by the Ijaw Youth Council, Central Zone on Thursday at the Board’s headquarters over allegations that the NCDMB had opened offices in Lagos and Abuja and was working to leave the state.
But Wabote, who received a delegation of the IYC, led by its President, Mr. Pereotubo Oweillami, dismissed the speculation, describing it as a “wild rumour and figment of some persons’ imaginations.”
He explained that the board’s new corporate headquarters was nearing completion.

Wabote stated, “Our 17-storey headquarters’ building project in Yenagoa has got to the 12th floor. It might end up being the tallest structure in the whole of the South-South and South-East when it is completed in 2018. How can we leave such a building and move to Abuja or Lagos?
”However, the board has established liaison and zonal offices in key cities and oil-producing states for operational efficiency, just like other federal agencies and state governments. “NCDMB is a federal institution and has stakeholders across the country and we need those offices to transact business effectively.”
On the request by the IYC President for training and employment opportunities, Wabote promised that the board would train youths from Ijaw extraction and other Niger Delta tribes in leadership and specialised skills, with a view to making them self-reliant.
He explained that employment opportunities in the oil and gas industry were limited, hence the need to train youths in other sectors of the economy such as agriculture and construction.
“The Federal Government is pushing actively for the diversification of the economy so that people can be employed in other areas. So do not just ask for training in the oil and gas industry but also in other sectors,” Wabote advised.
The Executive Secretary stressed that the board’s trainings were informed by gap analysis, which reveals skills and capacities needed by the oil and gas industry.