NCDMB Launches LearnFest Academy to Boost Staff Capacity, Industry Knowledge
Pan Afric Reporters
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has launched an in-house learning platform, LearnFest Lecture Series, to deepen staff capacity, strengthen knowledge-sharing and improve understanding of the regulatory processes guiding Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
The development was contained in a press release issued by the NCDMB General Manager, Corporate Communications Division, Dr Obinna Ezeobi, on September 25, 2026, following the inauguration of the initiative on Thursday at the Board’s corporate headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. The three-hour inaugural session was attended by staff and focused on the mandates, structures and responsibilities of the Board’s seven directorates.
LearnFest, established under the Nigerian Content Academy (NCA), is designed as a continuous learning and knowledge-sharing platform that will expose staff and industry stakeholders to the mandate, institutional processes and operational framework of the Board. The Academy said the initiative would help break down knowledge silos and strengthen collaboration among directorates, divisions and departments.
Explaining the philosophy behind the programme, the Academy stated that “knowledge becomes more powerful when it does not exist in silos but moves from one department to the other with handshakes of different units.” It added that LearnFest would help employees understand “how everything fits together” in relation to the Board’s mandate, institutional processes, practices, culture and relationships.
Speaking at the event, the Director, Capacity Building Directorate, Engr. Abayomi Bamidele, said the Lecture Series was driven by the need to improve understanding of Nigerian Content tools and processes among NCDMB personnel and stakeholders in the oil and gas industry.
Bamidele said industry players needed a better understanding of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act 2010, the NCDMB Guideline for Nigerian Content Human Capital Development Implementation Strategy, Nigerian Content Compliance Certificate (NCCC), Nigerian Content Plan (NCP), statutory reporting requirements and expatriate quota matters. “LearnFest will make our work easier,” he said.
He disclosed that oil and gas operators, service companies, industry associations including the Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria (OGTAN), academic institutions and various ministries, departments and agencies had expressed interest in sending personnel to the Nigerian Content Academy for specialised training.
According to Bamidele, the NCA is also building a faculty as part of preparations for the full commencement of its training programmes, with the LearnFest sessions providing an opportunity to identify potential resource persons. “The people presenting [the lectures] could form part of our faculty,” he said, adding that participants’ feedback would help assess the suitability of presenters for future faculty roles.
He further disclosed that NCDMB management had approved its purpose-built facility at Opolo, along the Opolo-Elebele Road in Yenagoa, as a centre for NCA training programmes.
The inaugural lecture was delivered by the Manager, Planning and Policy Development Department, Engr. MofeMegbele, who spoke on “Understanding the Activities and Processes of the Planning, Research and Statistics Directorate.” The presentation covered the directorate’s operating framework, planning and policy development, expatriate quota, research and development, technology commercialisation and innovation, NOGIC JQS, the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum and the NCDMB e-Marketplace.
MofeMegbele explained that the Planning, Research and Statistics Directorate comprises the Planning and Policy Development Division and the Research and Statistics Development Division. He said the Planning and Policy Development Department was established in September 2018 under Section 70 of the NOGICD Act and is responsible for developing policies and guidelines for internal and external stakeholders as well as monitoring their implementation.
The NCDMB said LearnFest would hold monthly over the next nine months, with a different directorate featured at each edition. Attendance, both physical and online, will be mandatory for NCDMB staff, while participation will subsequently be opened to relevant oil and gas industry stakeholders.
The Board said the initiative is expected to strengthen institutional knowledge, improve inter-directorate collaboration and enhance the capacity of its workforce to effectively regulate and lead the development of Nigerian Content in the oil and gas industry.
