The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has launched the LearnFest Lecture Series, an in-house learning platform intended to strengthen staff capacity and promote knowledge-sharing among employees and stakeholders in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
Key Highlights
- NCDMB has inaugurated the LearnFest Lecture Series under the Nigerian Content Academy.
- The initiative is designed to promote continuous learning and knowledge-sharing among staff.
- LearnFest will cover NCDMB’s mandate, processes, directorates and regulatory responsibilities.
- Industry operators, service companies, academic institutions and government agencies have expressed interest in the training programmes.
- NCDMB approved its purpose-built facility in Opolo, Yenagoa, as a training centre for the Nigerian Content Academy.
- LearnFest will hold monthly for nine months, with a different directorate featured at each edition.
The three-hour inaugural event, held on Thursday at the NCDMB corporate headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, was attended by staff across the organisation.
The programme focused on improving staff understanding of the Board’s seven directorates, their constituent divisions and departments, as well as their individual responsibilities and how they work together to achieve the organisation’s objectives.
NCDMB LearnFest Academy Promotes Knowledge Sharing
LearnFest is an initiative of the Nigerian Content Academy (NCA), the specialised knowledge-sharing and training arm of NCDMB.
According to the Academy, knowledge within NCDMB is distributed across seven directorates, each with its own mandate, processes, expertise and responsibilities.
The Academy explained that LearnFest was created to break down knowledge silos and encourage greater understanding and collaboration among departments.
It said the initiative would help staff understand how the different parts of the organisation fit together, including its mandate, institutional processes, practices, culture and working relationships.
“When we understand what others do, we collaborate better, support one another better, and work as one integrated ecosystem,” the Academy stated.
NCDMB Targets Better Understanding of Nigerian Content Processes
In his opening remarks, the Director of the Capacity Building Directorate, Engr. Abayomi Bamidele, said the LearnFest Lecture Series was introduced to deepen understanding of Nigerian Content tools and processes among NCDMB staff and oil and gas industry stakeholders.
He said industry players needed to understand the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act 2010, operational principles under the NCDMB Guideline for Nigerian Content Human Capital Development Implementation Strategy, Nigerian Content Compliance Certificate (NCCC), Nigerian Content Plan (NCP), statutory reporting requirements and issues relating to expatriate quotas.
Bamidele said the initiative would help make the work of NCDMB and industry stakeholders easier by improving understanding of relevant regulatory processes.
He disclosed that industry operators and service companies, industry associations such as the Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria (OGTAN), academic institutions, and ministries, departments and agencies had expressed interest in sending their staff for specialised training through the Academy.
NCDMB Builds Faculty for Nigerian Content Academy
Bamidele said the Nigerian Content Academy was also developing a faculty for its training programmes, adding that the LearnFest Lecture Series would provide an opportunity to identify and assess potential resource persons.
“The people presenting [the lectures] could form part of our faculty,” he said, adding that participants would provide feedback on the suitability of the presenters for future faculty roles.
He also disclosed that NCDMB management had approved the use of its purpose-built facility in Opolo, along the Opolo-Elebele Road in Yenagoa, as a centre for Nigerian Content Academy training programmes.
NCDMB has also used the Academy for a separate Nigerian Content Academy Lecture Series focused on issues in the oil and gas industry.
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First LearnFest Lecture Focuses on Planning and Policy Development
The first presentation in the LearnFest series was delivered by the Manager of the Planning and Policy Development Department, Engr. Mofe Megbele.
The presentation was titled “Understanding the Activities and Processes of the Planning, Research and Statistics Directorate.”
The lecture covered areas including the operating framework for Planning, Research and Statistics, the Planning and Policy Development Department, expatriate quota, inter-directorate relations, research and development, technology commercialisation and innovation.
Other areas addressed included research and development infrastructure, NOGIC JQS and user communication, Nigerian Content Compliance Framework (NCCF) objectives, the NCDMB e-Marketplace and stakeholder engagement.
Megbele explained that the directorate comprises two major divisions, namely the Planning and Policy Development Division and the Research and Statistics Development Division, both headed by general managers.
According to him, the Planning and Policy Development Department was established in September 2018 under Section 70 of the NOGICD Act and is responsible for developing policies and guidelines for internal and external stakeholders as well as monitoring their implementation.
LearnFest to Hold Monthly for Nine Months
The NCDMB LearnFest Lecture Series will hold monthly over the next nine months, with a different directorate featured at each edition.
Attendance, both online and in person, is mandatory for all NCDMB staff, while other oil and gas industry stakeholders will be able to participate in subsequent editions.
The initiative is expected to strengthen institutional knowledge within NCDMB while creating a platform for greater engagement between the Board, industry operators, professional associations, academic institutions and government agencies.
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