A man who thinks and dreams projects and is passionate about “promotion and opportunity enhancement of local and diverse suppliers across various geographies and value chains” is definitely on a mission of immense profundity. His heart, intellect and energies are where hitherto disadvantaged nations have discovered enormous potential for economic transformation. Such a one assumes a larger-than-life stature ashis endeavours and accompanying breakthroughs alter the negative narratives of states “across various geographies.”
That in a nutshell is the story of Nigeria’s Engr Austin Emmanuel Uzoka, a 1992 Mechanical Engineering graduate of Ibadan University who, until recently, was Senior Local Content Adviser, Royal Dutch Shell at The Hague, Netherlands. He sits on the Boards of three international companies as Director/Adviser and is engaged by a number of governments in the Middle East, the West Indies, and Africa for advisory roles in assets management integrity, among other responsibilities.
Between his early years in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, beginning from Daewoo E&C (1992-2000), as Project Engineer/Coordinator, and his entry into Shell Group, where he began as Manager, Local Content, Capacity Building and Industry Collaboration (2006-2018; at The Hague 2018-2023), he has featured prominently in major project teams and processes that ultimately unveiled local content in all itsramifications.
No fewer than 10 nations in the global South – beginning from Nigeria, Brunei and Oman, to Tanzania, Kazakhstan, Trinidad and Tobago, Bolivia, Suriname and Guyana and Qatar – and Scotland and Norway in the industrialised North, have been traversed by Engr Uzoka in his passionate engagements with stakeholders and special interest groups. In each country his footprint is advertised by one significant project or scheme that has made a world of difference in socioeconomic circumstances.
Local Content Practice as a Calling: The Beginnings for Uzoka
In his days of ‘small’ beginning, in Daewoo E&C, OilservLimited, Dorman Long Engineering and ExonMobil, he was actively engaged in projects such as fabrication, construction and emergency leak repairs, among others, demonstrating in the process traits of a mission-driven engineer. In Daewoo, the successful prefabrication of a pump house and module interconnecting pipework for the 60,000 barrel per day TunuFlow Station made him outstanding. So were successful initiatives of his at Oilserv, which at some point increased production efficiency and yearly cost savings in excess of $200 million.
With an excellent track record of performance, Engr Uzoka was ‘poached’ by a rival international oil company, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO), and placed in an operational area that was relatively new in Nigeria but with immense potential to catalyse industrialisation and economic growth. That was in 2006. He was appointed Manager, Local Content, Capacity Building, and Industry Collaboration, an area of functional responsibility that foreshadowed the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, 2010.
In no time in his new office, he got 23 impactful partnerships initiated and perfected between Nigerian and United Kingdom (UK) vendors, thus instituting mutually beneficial collaborations that lifted the economic profile of the affected Nigerian firms.He was similarly successful in building networks for local chief executive officers and the Management of SNEPCO that enhanced operational effectiveness of suppliers of stud bolts, nuts, flanges, sea-going work barges, and fabrication facilities.
From Implementation Committee on NOGICD Act to NCCF
The most far-reaching of the contributions of Engr Austin Uzoka to local content practice were arguably at the level of Implementation Committee on the NOGICD Act and the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum (NCCF), a platform for information sharing and collaboration among key oil and gas industry stakeholders, regulatory agencies and Government.
Nominated onto the two bodies in May 2010 by Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited, whose General Manager, Nigerian Content Development, Engr Simbi Kesiye Wabote, had been a fervent apostle of local content, he was acutely conscious of the high expectations to be fulfilled. And he acquitted himself creditably.
As events turned out to be, the work he did on the aforesaid Committee and Forum was to prepare the way, lay the groundwork, for the excellent performance and achievements of Engr Wabote when the latter became Executive Secretary of NCDMB six years later.
Engr Uzoka demonstrated passion in everything he did towarddeepening of indigenous participation in the industry, drawingon his knowledge of that sector as one-time Project Engineer and Local Content/Capacity-Building Manager at SNEPCO. His expertise and exposure from years of active involvement in supply chain management in different parts of the world equally proved invaluable as he drew up a plan for capacity–building for the Implementation Committee.
He also had to develop a Nigerian Content ImplementationFramework and operational guidelines that would deliver anticipated benefits of Nigerian Content in the oil and gas industry. Over the years, some review has been undertaken with changing industry trends, but the kernel of his vision endures. The ultimate beneficiary of his innovative ideas in local content practice and capacity building was the NCDMB and, by extension, the Nigerian nation.
In the NCCF, he has been an active member of a body that identifies challenges in implementation of the NOGICD Act, proffers solutions to address same, and supports the NCDMB in monitoring compliance with the Act and ensuring that the momentum in local content development – now at 56 per cent, up from five per cent in 2010 – is sustained.
How Pioneer NCDMB Boss Appreciated Local Content Pioneer
The words of the pioneer Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Engr (now Dr) Ernest Nwapa, in a letter of appreciation to Engr Uzoka, were revealing enough. According to him, “Your commitment and enthusiasm in delivering the working procedures, regulations and other enabling activities have produced deliverables of the highest quality, which will lay a solid foundation for the Board’s implementation of the provisions of the [NOGICD] Act.”
Global Agent for Value Chain Management
Across several nations of the world, the contributions of Engr Uzoka in value chain management has made big-ticket projects beneficial to hitherto disadvantaged segments of society. In Brunei, Oman, and elsewhere, he created Wells Franchise Model which prioritised job creation, small- and medium-scale enterprises (SME) development, capacity building, and indigenous community benefits.
In Kazakhstan, his own role was remarkable in the advancement of a strong policy and advocacy framework that resulted in the review of regulations, policy and formula that made the Government support the $5 billion Kalakas Kazhar Project.
He was also industry representative in Ipieca Supply Chain Working Group, which has special focus on enhancement of the performance of contractors and sustainability in every aspect of the oil and gas value chain, particularly as it relates to raw materials as well as finished products.
Across geographies and value chains, his footprints are conspicuous in enhanced delivery culture and international best practices in organisations in both private and public sectors. Startups have recorded transformative growth under his guidance, and vastly improved in-country capacities and capabilities.
In 15 eventful years of the Nigerian Content journey, with the oil and gas industry literally approximating national aspirations for indigenous participation and sectoral linkages, among other things, Austin Emmanuel Uzoka is one of a special class of citizens who have earned a place in the roll of honour. His unstinting dedication to local content, and the NOGICD Act generally continue to push the frontiers of attainment.
