An indigenous firm, Engineering Automation Technology Limited (EATECH), has decried  continuous breach of the Local Content Law by some International Oil Companies (OICs) in Nigeria, urging the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) to step up their regulatory and monitoring functions to protect local firms.
EATECH’s Managing Director/Chief Executive, Mr. Emmanuel Okon, spoke to reporters at an event organised to mark the company’s 10th anniversary and inauguration of the company’s multi-million naira operational base and fabrication yard in Eket, Akwa Ibom State.
Okon lamented the harsh operating environment in which some local vendor firms were operating in Nigeria, saying in a bid to tap effectively into the Nigerian Content Law, some local firms had taken bank loans and made substantial investments in requisite infrastructure and human capital, only to suffer from low patronage from International Oil Companies (IOCs) in the award of contracts.
He pointed out that despite the growth in the technology and manpower capabilities of Nigerian firms, contracts were continually skewed in favour of foreign firms by some of the OICs.

Okon said local contractors were faced with a unique challenge where IOCs expectation of quality project delivery from an indigenous contractor is usually benchmarked against expatriates whereas the consideration for same goods and services are based on the perception that Nigerians deliver low value jobs. He explained that under such situation, the premium for service excellence would always be skewed to expatriates.
He said: “NAPIMS in conjunction with the NCDMB should encourage paradigm shift in the skewness of contract consideration towards expatriates and similar contract values should be applied to both local and expatriates where execution standards are similar.
“We have built the capacities to do several of the projects that continue to go to expatriate companies and this is not good for our business. We have been tested and we have proved that we can deliver the best quality of jobs. So, it is not about the delivery of job. It is about our regulators keeping an eagle eye and ensuring that at all stages no one breaches the Nigerian Content Law. It is important that we get patronage because that is the only way we can grow, eradicate unemployment among our youths and contribute to prosperity of the economy.”
Okon also listed access to funding as another challenge faced by local firms and he also demanded close collaboration between the NCDMB and banks to resolve this challenge. “Like most local contractors, access to working capital remains cumbersome for lack of appropriate collateral and we also experience delayed payment when negotiating contract financing with banks,” Okon added.
“There should be a deliberate collaboration between the NCDMB and financial institutions in developing a framework for local contractors to access funding,” he said.

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