Amnesty Office discusses employment for ex-militants

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board and the Presidential Amnesty Programme have seen the need to integrate ex-agitators from the Niger Delta into the oil and gas industry. To this end, the two bodies have agreed to collaborate in bridging the employment gap among the Niger Delta indigenes.

The Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Mr.  Ernest Nwapa, was quoted in a statement on Friday as agreeing with the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, on the need for the two bodies to work together.

Nwapa was said to have hosted Kuku at the NCDMB office in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. He said the plan was to upload the list of ex-agitators, who had completed training in oil and gas service areas into the Nigerian Oil and Gas Joint Qualification System. The NOGIC JQS is a database for talent sourcing in the oil and gas industry.

The NCDMB boss explained that the Minister of Petroleum Resources and Chairman, Board of Governing Council, Mrs. Diezani Alison Madueke, had directed the board to pursue capacity development and employment initiatives that would support President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda in the industry.

According to him, major operating companies, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, cannot employ more than 50,000 Nigerians because they have outsourced most of their operations.

He, however, added that the oil and gas industry could create several thousands of jobs through the execution of its projects in-country and manufacturing of components used by the industry.

Nwapa described various initiatives of the board which had helped to create and retain 38,000 jobs in the industry from 2010 to date, adding that the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industrial Park Scheme would unlock employment opportunities from the industry.

He said the NOGIPS would elevate local Small and Medium Enterprises to Original Equipment Manufacturers that could produce industry standard hi-tech equipment under a shared service and resource optimisation model.

Kuku, in his remarks, underscored the agency’s relationship with the board, explaining that both agencies were developing manpower for Nigerians. He said, “We are doing a lot of vocational training programme that falls under the ambit of the NCDMB; so, we needed to get advice from the board on what is available and how we can tap into the opportunities. We want the board to help us in post training placements.

“We have seen the opportunities and we must prepare for the jobs that will come through the Nigerian Content implementation.”

According to Kuku, the Amnesty Office cannot provide jobs for all the trained ex-militants, adding that they will have to compete with other Nigerians.

He said, “We have hundreds of our trainees across the best universities in the world. The best we can give them is free education and when they come back, they will compete with others.