Construction work at the long-awaited Oloibiri Museum and Research Centre, Otuabagi in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, is set to begin.
On Tuesday, promoters of the project handed over the project site to Julius Berger Plc at a well-attended ceremony at the Otuabagi community town hall.
A statement issued on Wednesday and signed by the General Manager Corporate Communication Division of the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board, (NCDMB), Obinna Ezeobi, said the event marked the completion of formalities and alignment of all key stakeholders, to ensure that the project proceeds without hitches at the exact location where oil production began in Nigeria in 1957.
The statement quoted the project lead and Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Felix Ogbe, as saying that the multibillion-naira project, which consists of a world-class oil and gas museum centre and a research testing centre, is in fulfillment of the desire of the project promoters to place Otuabagi community, the location of Oloibiri Oil Well 1, on the world map.
He noted that the tradition worldwide has been to immortalize the beginnings of the oil and gas industry by citing projects of significant socio-economic worth in communities where exploitation and production of crude oil began.
Accordingly, he said the project promoters, the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), the NCDMB, Shell Petroleum Development Company (now Renaissance Africa Energy Limited), and the Bayelsa State Government believe that the case of Nigeria should not be different.
Ogbe said: “You see museums, research centers, tourist attractions, among other things, as distinctive features that give deserved prominence and material benefits to such communities.”
The NCDMB boss, represented by the board’s Director of Corporate Services, Alhaji Abdulmalik Halilu, told the community that history was in the making as Julius Berger moves to the 55.05-hectare project site to commence construction work.
He assured that a project management team had been constituted to ensure that timelines and other expectations were strictly adhered to by the construction company.
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Ogbe disclosed that a governance structure had already been drawn up for the museum centre for the purposes of efficient and effective management, adding that the community would be given a sense of belonging at all times.
He charged the youths of the community to prepare to take advantage of the training programmes to be provided in diverse skills to secure employment in the facility.
The NCDMB executive secretary commended the Otuabagi community, particularly its stakeholder committee led by the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Otuoke, Prof. Teddy Adias, for the maturity and comportment exhibited during earlier disputes relating to the project location.
Chief of Staff to the Bayelsa State governor, Peter Akpe, who represented the state government, said the handover ceremony signals the transition from drawing board to action, stressing that a project that had been so long in the pipeline is finally coming to fruition.
He commended the NCDMB and other promoters of the project, as well as the community’s stakeholder committee, for their commitment thus far.
A representative of Julius Berger, Mr. Rimon Marisho, Deputy Regional Manager, South and East, expressed appreciation to the project promoters for all they have done to bring the plans for the project to the execution phase.
He described the handover ceremony as “a perfect beginning,” while assuring that the company would deliver the project on schedule.