27 September 2017, Sweetcrude, Lagos – The Oil and Gas Equipment and Machinery Development Institute planned by the Federal Government for establishment in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, will develop skills in the oil and gas sector as well as create jobs and wealth.
Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, who disclosed this, also said products of the research from the institute will invigorate the economy of the state in particular and the country at large.
He spoke during a courtesy call on the Bayelsa State governor, Mr Henry Seriake Dickson at Government House, Yenagoa, hinting that construction work on the project will begin next year.
Soliciting the support and cooperation of the state government particularly in the provision of a suitable site to make the project a reality, the minister said the project was part of plans by the current administration to move the economy from resource to knowledge-based economy.
He said, “We need to have capacity in areas such as this in order to develop, this has become important because the Ministry of Science and Technology is working hard in line with the policies of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to move the country away from the direction of resources based economy to knowledge-based economy that is also innovative based and we need to build capacity if we have to do so.
“We need to develop the capacity so that all the things we need can be produced locally. for example, it doesn’t make sense at all that we produce crude oil and then imports refined products so this institute will help us develop the capacity and the appropriate technology for oil and gas exploration industries.
“That is why the Oil and Gas Equipment and Machinery Institute is very important to the economy of our country because the research and innovation work that will come out of it will now be made available to small, medium and large-scale entrepreneurs and enterprises that can now mass produce them so that we can be in a position to now meet our needs locally and export to other countries.”
