Jonathan, Attah, others win Champions of Nigerian Content awards

Former President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and others have received various awards at the maiden edition of the inaugural Champions of Nigerian Content Award ceremony organised by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in partnership with Sweetcrude Ltd on Wednesday in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. Dr Jonathan bagged the Nigerian Content Lifetime Achievement Award.

The award recognised and rewarded individuals and corporate bodies that set the highest standards in deepening local participation in the Nigerian oil and gas industry and contributed significantly to national development.

In his welcome address at the event, the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Felix Omatsola Ogbe noted that the Board had come a long way in implementation of the NOGICD Act and recorded landmark achievements in which outstanding industry players, individuals and corporate entities, deserved to be identified and honoured.

In his words, “the time has come to identify and celebrate pillars of Nigerian Content who shall serve as a shining example of what is expected of others in the industry.”

Speaking after receiving the lifetime achievement awards, MrJonathan recalled how he promptly signed the Nigerian Content Bill in 2010 when he was acting President in 2010, stating that an encounter with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who repeatedly mentioned Nigeria as a reference point for underperformance in utilisation of oil resources. He pointed that the example of China that easily domesticated and domiciled oil and gas industry activities greatly motivated him.

He mentioned that Senator Lee Maeba who represented Rivers State South East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, was among the initiators of the Nigerian Content Bill and deserves special recognition by the NCDMB and Nigerians generally. The former President appreciated the NCDMB for the success of the Nigerian Content and lauded past and present leadership of the agency that translated the dream behind the Act into reality.

Another top winner in the distinguished individuals category was Tony Attah, Managing Director of Renaissance Africa Energy Limited, as “Nigerian Content Icon of the Year. The award was for his time as the Managing Director of Nigeria LNG Limited, during which time he secured the Final Investment Decision (FID) for NLNG Train 7 project and led his organization to partner with NCDMB to sign the first Service Level Agreement (SLA) which Nigeria LNG in June 2017.

Other top winners include Emenike Ejiogu, a professor at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, (UNN), as “Nigerian Content Innovator of the Year,” and Ms Iroghama Ogbeifun, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Starzs Investments Company Limited received the women in leadership award.

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In the corporate category, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), now known as Renaissance Africa Energy Limited, clinched the “Nigerian Content International Upstream Operator of the Year Award,” while Aradel won the “Nigerian Content Independent Upstream Operator of the Year Award.”

Other winners in the corporate category were Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited as “Nigerian Content Midstream Operator of the Year”; Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company Limited as “Nigerian Content Downstream Operator of the Year”; Dorman Long Engineering Company Limited as “Nigerian Content Indigenous Service Company of the Year,”and Technip FMC as “Nigerian Content International Service Company of the Year.”

On the winners list also were Bank of Industry (BOI) as “Nigerian Content Financial Services Provider of the Year” and Thisday Newspapers as “Nigerian Content Media Organisationof the Year.”

Speaking on the selection criteria, a member of the Award Advisory Committee, Wole Akinyosoye, former Operations Controller with the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), said measurable metrics were used to determine the winners. According to him, “Awardees must have demonstrated operational consistency where applicable; must have contributed to enhanced utilization and monetization of gas resources as applicable, and must have improved on local refining where applicable in terms of capacity and energy security.”

Continuing, he said, they “must also have strictly complied with the Act and other statutory Nigerian Content requirements, and must have made significant footprint in job creation and local sourcing.”

On the composition of the Advisory Committee for the Award, he pointed out that the pioneer Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Ernest Nwapa, was the Chairman, while the Secretary-General of the African Petroleum Producers Association (APPO), Dr Omar Farouk Ibrahim, and he (Wole Akinyosoye) were members.

The “Champions of Nigerian Content Awards” held on the sideline of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF) 2025.