MANAGING Director/CEO of Engineering Automation Technology Limited (EATECH), Mr. Emmanuel Okon has been inducted as a Fellow of the Institute of Oil and Gas Research and Hydrocarbon Studies (IOGRHS) at an event held over the weekend in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
This is just as the EATECH boss has lauded government for the Local Content Law in the Oil and Gas Sector stating that this motivated him to start the company and employ Nigerians in their droves as well as reduce capital flight.
Chairman of Council for the Institute of Oil and Gas Research and Hydrocarbon Studies , Prof. Akin Akindoyeni at a short speech before the induction said Okon was installed as a Fellow of the Institute “for his specialisation in Corporate Leadership and Foresight.”
He commended the EATECH CEO for his vision, commitment and hard work in realising his set targets as a local player in the petroleum industry.
Okon, in his response after the induction, lauded the Federal Government for coming out with the Local Content Law in the oil and gas sector saying it was the law that gave a big boost to his dream of floating a vibrant indigenous oil and gas service company in the country.
He said the birth of the company had led to the creation of hundreds of jobs for Nigerian youths and also saved the country millions of dollars in capital flight as most of the instrument calibration and fabrication jobs hitherto done by multinational oil firms at exorbitant cost in dollars were being handled locally at EATECH facility in Eket, Akwa Ibom State.
Okon said he felt fulfilled with the recognition by the Institute of Oil and Gas and Hydrocarbon Studies saying the induction as a Fellow will spur him launch more technology to provide solutions to the Nigerian petroleum industry.
He said, “every year we launch and develop new solutions and technology to the Nigerian industry and we have established Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) authorized service centres in-country both for mechanical and instrumentation automation process. We are calibrating in our laboratories and this has gone a long way in curbing capital flights in the country.”
Okon however demanded that regulatory agencies in the industry do more to ensure that International Oil Companies (IOCs) continue to award contracts to competent local firms noting that remained the only way to grow the capacity of indigenous firms and also create jobs for citizens. He decried the award of contracts by multinational oil firms to nigerians firms that lacked the capacity for future growth.
“The IOCs should focus solely in patronising local companies with systems and structures in the award of contracts under the local content law and not companies that will conclude a job and park up with no continuity,” Okon said.
“The various regulatory agencies in the industry should also encourage local companies to develop systems and structures because this remains the only way to ensure the sustained development of local firms and workforce. The Nigerian oil and gas industry is going to suffer in the long run if capacity building is not seen as the key driver by operators and regulators. This is the only way to guarantee and deliver the next generation of skilled workforce for the industry,” Okon added.
In 2016, EATECH through the leadership of Okon had launched into the Nigerian market a new technology that detects poor quality fuels and lubricating oils in the country’s oil and gas as well as the aviation sectors.
EATECH in 2017 had also established a multi-million naira operational base and fabrication yard in Eket, Akwa Ibom State as part of measures of deepening the participation of indigenous firms in the Nigerian oil and gas sector.
In 2018, at the African Oil and Gas Globe Awards held in Abuja, Okon’s Engineering Automation Technology Limited won the Best Instrumentation, Mechanical and Process Automation Engineering Award for 2018 for its various technological innovations and products designed to boost safety in Nigeria’s petroleum and aviation industries.
