Participants at the 24th Edition of the Nigeria Oil and Gas (NOG) Energy Week 2025, have advocated concerted efforts towards technological adoption and domestication through consistent capacity development and knowledge localisation.
The participants made the call on Tuesday during one of the strategic panel sessions on Nigerian content, at the ongoing NOG conference in Abuja.
They underscored the need to harness technology for increased operational efficiency, productivity and revenue generation.
The seminar/session hosted by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has its theme as “Technology as a Local Content Imperative: From Adoption to Domestication.”
Mr Olakunle Osobu, the Deputy Managing Director, Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), harped on the need to domesticate technology, adding that Nigeria’s struggle might continue until technology adoption becomes a national call.
Osobu called for a policy direction that would ensure that the technology coming into the country was written in Nigerian local languages for easy understanding.
“For us to domesticate technology we need to produce textbooks in our local languages; we need to know how to read and write in our local languages in order to imbibe technology.
“German, Russia, China wrote their technologies in German, Russian, and Chinese languages, then English; everyone does it in their languages; this is one of the areas where domestication comes in.
“We can have keyboards written in our local languages, just the same way there are in Arabic, German and French keyboards.
“We must continue to work with policy makers to ensure that we domesticate knowledge gathered over the years,” he said.
Osobu noted that NLNG in collaboration with NCDMB had adopted technologies in its operations and ensured the promotion of local content, as 70 per cent of its contractors are currently Nigerians.
Speaking, Dr Obiageli Amadiobi, the Director-General, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Production (NOTAP), said the agency had developed a framework to ensure the domestication of technology and local content in the country.
Amadiobi emphasised the need to domesticate technology after its acquisition and adoption through knowledge transfer and capacity building.
“Technology is not just a tool but an asset; there is need to strengthen and modify its localisation.
“There should be investment in research and documentation to domicile technology,” she said.
The NOTAP boss while decrying the exportation of Nigerian local content values, called for increased skills and capacity development, research upgrade and domiciling of technology.
Mr Gbolahan Lawal, the Chief Executive Officer of GIiL Automations, said concerted collaboration and consistent efforts were needed to harness technology for increased operational efficiency.
Mr Umesh Amarnani, the Director of Pacegate Energy and Resources Limited (PEARL), while highlighting the benefits of in-country manufacturing and technology transfer, urged regulators to prioritise genuine local content in the industry.
