Why govt must ensure all fabrication jobs are domicile in-country

Nigerian fabrication yards now have the capacity to fabricate the modules of Floating Production Storage Offshore vessels (FPSOs) and other complex offshore structures, stressing that the Federal Government should insist that complex fabrication jobs should be domiciled in-country in line with the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act of 2010.

Until a few year ago, barges and tug boats are imported from Europe and America under the flimsy excuse that Nigeria did not have the capacity. But today, Nigerian companies have fabricated a lot of equipment without any assistance from anybody. The barges and tugboats that are now used in the Oil and Gas industry are fabricated here in Nigeria.

It is now left for the government to support the local companies by insisting  that all the jobs must be domiciled in Nigeria.

Speaking to journalists after a facility tour  of the  Mount Zion Fabrication Yard in Woji area of Port Harcourt in Rivers State, Godwin Izomor,  group managing director and chief executive officer of MG Vowgas Limited,  said that the international oil companies (IOCs) should no longer export jobs abroad under the excuse that Nigeria does not have the capacity.

He explained that doing that oil and gas industry jobs locally would help to create massive employment opportunities in the country, adding that Korean giants that have operated in Nigeria for over 20 years have not built fabrication yards in Nigeria so as to continue to create job opportunities for their people working in the yards in their home country.

“Government must insist that all the jobs must be domiciled in Nigeria. They should insist deliberately,” he said.

He said that his company in particular has the capacity to fabricate pressure vessels, modules, offshore structures, FPSO structures and topsides, stressing that his yard was built to curb capital flight.

“We built this place to reduce the amount of our money being taken abroad. Can you imagine that Korean companies have been in this country for the past 20 years but none of them has a yard in Nigeria that can even fabricate a container? The reason is that they know that if they build a yard here, their people will not be employed.   So, it is our foolishness that kept Nigeria where we are today. Now, we have to believe in ourselves to start doing things in this country,” he said.

He argued that no fabrication yard in Nigeria has the kind of equipment in his yard.

According to him, his company is bringing two major equipment. One is the oven, adding that the company’s furnace has the capacity of 1,600 degree centigrade and is about 200 tonnes furnace. He noted that most companies  in the  country s currently  import the flanges from India and some other countries. But Vowgas is the only company that is planning   to have it here in Nigeria.

“We have plasma cutting machine that can cut up to 200-millimetre thickness of plates. We have davvy rolling machine that can roll up to 200 mm thickness plates. We have three automated welding machines that can weld aluminum and stainless steel,” he said.

The managing director of MG Vowgas Limited also identified insecurity, poor electricity supply and lack of funding as some of the challenges local companies face. He said the failure of the government to stop the international oil companies from executing jobs outside the country is also a source of worry for the local companies.

He lamented that the high cost of security in Nigeria has impacted negatively on the cost of doing business.

MG VowGas Limited, he stated spends about N500 million yearly on security in his Port Harcourt yard and operation site in Bayelsa. He therefore urged the Federal Government to provide security by re-negotiating with the different ethnic groups agitating in the country.

“The government should re-negotiate with the different groups agitating for different reasons. I am a businessman and I don’t want to go into the demand of each ethnic group. It is not my business. My business is to do business while the government gives us security,” he said.