Personnel of over 50 indigenous oil and gas contracting firms have completed a two-week intensive course on ‘entrepreneurship skills development and access to finance’ sponsored by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).

A statement from the board, said the training was held in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, and is part of a holistic project-based package toward building the capacity of indigenous companies to support activities in the oil and gas industry.

At the close-out ceremony for the third batch of trainees, the NCDMB’s General Manager, Capacity Building Division, Dr. Ama Ikuru explained that the training was to help participants to become more innovative and service-oriented.

“The intention is that they should understand coping with competition in an era where technology is fast advancing and changing, and opportunities are becoming slimmer.

“They need to understand how to deliver better quality services; they need to understand how to manage their resources – finance, people, and everything – to deliver in the industry,” Ikuru stated.

He enjoined the outgoing trainees to take the knowledge acquired back to their respective businesses, bearing in mind that “knowledge gained, if not retained, will make infancy perpetual.”

“When we train, we want to see people apply that knowledge to their businesses. As chief executives you should be thinking how to overcome competition and become more cost-efficient,” he noted.

The resource person, Dr. Silva Opuala-Charles charged the trainees to go back home and reset their companies. “They need to be bullish about it. It’s about execution,” he said.

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