By Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt
The newly signed Train 7 Project of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited will generate 52,000 jobs, its Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Tony Attah, has said.
According to him, 12,000 of the jobs will come through direct employments; 40,000 persons will get indirect jobs from the project.
Attah spoke at the weekend in Port Harcourt during a reception organised by the Junior Chambers International (JCI) to mark the reappointment of Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Executive Secretary Simbi Wabote by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He praised Wabote, saying without his commitment, the Train 7 project would have been a mirage.
Attah said that at least 55 per cent of the scope of work would be domiciled in Nigeria.
He said: “I dare say that without the support of the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, we may not have Train 7 today. Train 7 means 12,000 jobs directly and based on the board’s calculation 40,000 additional jobs indirectly.
“The relative peace that the entire Niger Delta enjoys today called the Amnesty Programme was 35,000 people who were positively put to some good employment.
“So, think about one project that is bringing the opportunity of 50,000 people directly or indirectly being gainfully employed then you understand what this man (Wabote) has done for Nigeria and did for Niger Delta.
“On top of that, 55 per cent of that scope will be domiciled and domesticated and Nigerians will be directly involved in more than half of the scope of this particular project.
“We are talking of over $10billion in terms of the overall Train 7 investment.”
Wabote said it was not easy moving from the private to the public sector.
“It’s not a piece of cake; it’s a huge challenge. In the private sector, you know your stakeholders but when you are working with the government, you don’t know who your stakeholders are because they are everywhere and you have to navigate that process and by the grace of God he has continuously been on our side,” he said.
