Local Content act: India abusing Expatriate quota in Nigeria, PENGASSAN raises alarm.

By AKOR SYLVESTER-Abuja

Regulatory authorities in oil and gas sector in Nigeria have been urged to call to order international companies who used Expatriates to discriminate against Nigerians who have skills and capacity to work in their companies in the country.

President of the Petroleum and Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN)  Festus Osifo who made the call in an address at the Closing Ceremony of the 2024 PENGASSAN Energy and Labour Summit (PEALS) in Abuja at the weekend, lamented what he described as the discriminatory practices of some Expatriates against Nigerians, stating that Nigerians are now denied opportunity to work in oil and gas industry in their own country by India expatriates.

He expressed worry about the abuse of the expatriate quota law despite the local content in place to strengthen the country’s capacity in the sector, enjoining the regulatory bodies to address the violation .

Osifo said the Indians continuous violation of local content act in oil and gas in a country like Nigeria, where unemployment is a problem,  should not be allowed

According to him: “Today we have a company called Sterling. In sterling today, CHRO, you have more Indians working in sterling oil in Nigeria compared to Nigerians working there. In fact, up to vulcanizers you have Indians carrying out such low operations and functions. All their plant operations are maned by Indians unlike other companies that allow Nigerians to man their plant operations. We have raised this concern before now to NCDMB that we should not abuse our expatriate quota”, Osifo said.

Other experts who spoke at the event highlighted the challenges in the future of work in the oil and gas industry emphasising that the gap between global standard and our current standard must be closed in order to attract, retain and grow our talent.

They positioned that industry leaders and organisation must collaborate to address leadership challenges and prioritise people’s development, foster innovations and embrace  diversity to ensure a successful and sustainable future.

In his presentation, a professor of Geology and Geophysics, Prof. Kingsley Nwozor said “it is estimated that by 2025 Artificial Intelligence (AI) will help the industries to save between 100 million dollars to 1 billion dollars. That is the kind of number every CEOs will receive and sit back to listen.

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He said government, captain of industries, stakeholders must collaborate to embrace digital transformation, stating that priority should be given to cyber security in efforts to develop oil and gas sector. He also emphasised the role of artificial intelligence in the sustainability of oil and gas industry in the country.