The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board says it has commenced a strategic reset of the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum, with a focus on improving in-country capacity development in the oil and gas sector.
At a two-day retreat and the first half of the 2026 Steering Committee Meeting of the NCCF, the board underscored the need for a clear, actionable roadmap to reposition the forum as a more effective driver of Nigerian content outcomes.
Declaring the retreat open, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Felix Ogbe, described the session as a “defining moment” in the evolution of the NCCF, noting that while the forum had recorded steady growth since its inception, a more deliberate and strategic direction had become imperative.
A statement by the board quoted Ogbe as saying, “The NCCF began as a vision, modest in structure but bold in intent. Today, we can confidently say that this baby has grown, nurtured by your dedication, strengthened by collaboration and sustained by our shared commitment to advancing Nigerian content.”
Represented by the Acting Director of Planning, Research and Statistics at NCDMB, the executive secretary stressed that progress must now be matched with intentional planning, urging stakeholders to focus on long-term impact.
“This retreat is not just another meeting; it is a defining moment. We are here to reflect, interrogate our current realities and chart a clearer, more strategic path forward for the NCCF,” he added.
He highlighted the baseline study conducted by Ernst & Young as a critical tool for benchmarking the forum against global best practices, identifying gaps and repositioning it for greater relevance. He noted, however, that transformation would depend on people, not just frameworks.
“The success of the framework, policy guidelines and roadmap we seek to develop will depend on the quality of our engagement, the sincerity of our contributions and our willingness to think beyond silos,” Ogbe stated, urging participants to be deliberate, constructive and bold in their deliberations.
Providing context for the retreat, a partner at EY and session facilitator, Mr Damilola Aloba, outlined three core objectives driving the engagement, strengthening aligned leadership on NCCF’s long-term direction; improving coordination between the forum, its Sectoral Working Groups and NCDMB; and fostering shared ownership of its mission.
“We want to strengthen aligned leadership on NCCF’s long-term direction and ensure clear expectations across NCDMB, the NCCF Secretariat and SWGs,” Aloba said.
He added that the retreat would also enhance coordination frameworks to enable smoother implementation and more consistent stakeholder engagement, while ensuring a common understanding of execution responsibilities across the ecosystem.
Aloba disclosed that stakeholder consultations and benchmarking analysis revealed key structural and operational gaps, including unclear strategic direction, delays in project approvals and limited clarity around post-idea decision-making.
“The forum lacks clear strategic direction from NCDMB, creating uncertainty among SWGs regarding expectations and deliverables,” he noted, adding that “unrefined expectations and the absence of a supportive framework” further constrained performance.
Other findings included budget limitations due to reliance on NCDMB as the sole funding source; weak project evaluation and tracking capacity; and the absence of defined criteria for assessing project viability and impact.
Despite these challenges, he acknowledged strong commitment from SWG members, particularly in deploying time and financial resources towards capacity development initiatives across the oil and gas value chain.
Earlier, the Acting Deputy Manager of NCCF, Engr Bright Amatoru, provided an overview of the forum’s activities, describing NCCF as a statutory collaborative platform established under Sections 57 and 58 of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act.
He explained that since its establishment in 2014, the NCCF had been engaging stakeholders across 12 SWGs to identify industry gaps and develop solutions while implementing targeted interventions.
“Our function is to identify issues in the priority mapping and, beyond that, provide solutions through extensive stakeholder engagement,” Amatoru said.
Highlighting key achievements, Amatoru pointed to the development of National Operational Standards to harmonise capacity development initiatives across SWGs, as well as the Marine Assets Listing System, designed to build a comprehensive database of marine assets in the oil and gas industry.
He also referenced benchmarking studies in fabrication aimed at addressing scale gaps, alongside initiatives such as the Women in Oil and Gas Conference and mentorship workshop held earlier in the year in collaboration with the Diversity SWG.
However, he acknowledged that the absence of a clearly defined strategic framework limited the forum’s ability to prioritise interventions effectively.
“As of today, we have not had a clear direction on how to select interventions. That clarity is critical as we align industry expectations with global best practices,” he said.
According to the statement, the retreat forms part of efforts by NCDMB to develop a comprehensive NCCF strategic roadmap aligned with the board’s ten-year strategic plan and broader industry expectations. It was stated that participants were expected to generate actionable ideas, refine governance structures and define a clear execution pathway that will enhance NCCF’s ability to deliver on its mandate in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
