Felix Ogbe, the newly appointed executive secretary (ES) of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), has officially assumed office.
In a statement on Thursday, the agency said the ES met with the directors and some management staff of the board for the first time, at the NCDMB’s liaison office in Abuja.
On December 7, President Bola Tinubu appointed Ogbe, replacing Simbi Wabote, who had held the position for seven and a half years.
During the meeting, the directors and senior management briefed the ES on the board’s projects and initiatives, according to the statement.
In his remarks, Ogbe praised the accomplishments of the organisation, particularly the human capacity development initiative that has trained Nigerians to work as high-tech consultants in other oil-producing nations in Africa.
Speaking on the Nigerian content 10-year strategic roadmap, which in its sixth year of implementation had achieved 54 percent of its goals, the new NCDMB head said expert consultants would be invited to certify the performance and metrics, for optimal authenticity.
Ogbe also urged senior officials to continue delivering high performance in their various capacities to maintain the board’s premium standing.
Additionally, he said the board must conduct programmes to educate key stakeholders in Nigerian cities about the potential afforded by the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act.
He said for the board to achieve its goals for the economy, it must collaborate closely with its contractors to expedite the completion of its direct projects, such as the Nigerian oil and gas parks scheme.
‘OGBE’S PROFILE’
The new ES hails from Warri South LGA in Delta state and “is a vastly experienced oil and gas engineer and holds separate Masters Degrees in Civil Engineering and Construction Management”.
“He has over 37 years of experience in core oil and gas operations in Nigeria and local content operations, notably onshore and offshore, LNG, Water Drilling, Treatment and Storage Facilities, Civil, Building & Dredging Engineering, and other construction,” the statement reads.
“His experiences were garnered in Nigeria, across Africa, Busan, South Korea and USA, where he worked in the Conceptions, Engineering Designs, Project and Construction Management to Commissioning Phases of projects.
“His work experiences include Chevron Corporation, where he held top positions in Nigeria and overseas, before he retired voluntarily in June 2014, to go into private business.”
While at Chevron Nigeria Limited, he served as construction services group superintendent (Escravos-Warri) “and was responsible for in-house construction services requirements to support the company’s operations”.
“He equally served as Offshore Projects Manager, where he was responsible for all the Engineering designs, Planning and execution of Maintenance works and installation of new facilities to support productions in Chevron Nigeria Limited offshore locations,” NCDMB said.
“Other assignments he held in Chevron included Construction Manager (Lagos & Escravos-Warri), Escravos Gas Project (EGP-3B), where he was responsible for the fabrication and installation of various sizes of pipelines/flowlines in offshore and onshore locations in the Niger Delta.
“In his early years, he served as Construction Superintendent responsible for Engineering Designs and Construction requirements, and also worked as the Cost Control Engineer and was responsible for all Facility Engineering Division Projects’ cost controls, budgeting and cashcalls.”
Ogbe is a member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, the Council of Registered Engineers, and the American Institute of Civil Engineers.