Federal government has concluded plans to set up nine industrial parks in the nine states of Niger Delta as part of the agenda to boost the harnessing of hydrocarbon resources as well as the overall development of the economy, the Executive Secretary of Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engineer Ernest Nwapa has said.

Nwapa who spoke through Mr. Rotimi Olagbaye, the Head, Marginal Oil Development of NCDMB during the 10th anniversary and thanksgiving ceremony of Divcon Group of Companies held at Ota Ogun state at the weekend, revealed that NCDMB will locate one industrial park in each of the oil producing states in the Niger Delta region as part of the plans to involve Nigerians in the sourcing of inputs used in oil and gas production.

He said, the park, apart from providing inputs to harness oil and gas will also create jobs for Nigerians .

The Group Managing Director of Divcon Nigeria Limited, Engineer Andy Ikhide, thanked God for sustaining the company ,providing dedicated staff to run its affairs for the past 10 years without hitches .

He noted that , for Nigeria to become great and be truly the giant of Africa , Nigerians should change their mind set, do the right thing at the right time, adding that technology transfer is a fallacy as no nation would willingly transfer technology to the nations seeking it at no cost .

"If Nigeria wants to transform as a giant of Africa, we must change our mind set ,change the way we think, think positively and do the right thing . Nigerians are one of the best brains in the world ,they are making exploits in the United States and Europe. We have to create enabling environment for these brains to come home and assist in the development of our economy", he added.

He explained that technology advancement is either stolen or acquired by nations seeking it. He cited Japan that was devastated after the second world. It picked up from the scrape through research and development and has transformed as one of the nations leading the world in technology advancement .

The Divcon Boss urged Nigerian leaders to take a cue from Japanese model by embarking on the application of research and development ,change curriculum model in schools ,resolve security challenges rocking the nation as no country can make progress under the regime of insecurity or anomy.

Source : allafrica.com

Posted on : 30 Nov,-0001