Sunday Aborisade, AbujaA former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chibudom Nwuche, said on Saturday that the inauguration of the Nigerian Content Development Tower in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State,  was a right step towards achieving self-sustenance in the nation’s oil and maritime industry.Nwuche in a statement he issued in Abuja, also said the project was part of the vision of the President, Major General Mohamadu Buhari, (retd), to provide infrastructure across the country with a view to attracting investments, create jobs and eradicate poverty.

He said the Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Silver, and the Executive Secretary Nigerian Content Board Simbi Wabote, also played critical roles in the actualisation of the landmark project.He said the tower had become a reference point in the Niger Delta to reflect the long-lasting legacies that signpost the years of oil and gas exploitation in the region.The tower, with a 10megawatts power plant and 1000-seater conference centre, was inaugurated on Thursday by Buhari through a virtual ceremony.Nwuche said, ‘‘The project’s inauguration,  brings to the fore our vision in the 4th National Assembly when we initiated the Local Content Bill.“Local content is now very important in all activities of our national life especially with the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, and the need for nations to be reasonably self-sufficient in most aspects of the economy.”He said the local production and patronage of local goods and services remains one of the surest ways to empower the citizens and give them viable opportunities to excel in their chosen professions and business endeavours.