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’Femi Asu
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Pipeline Pigs and Accessories Limited, Mr. Geoff Onuoha, has described the domestication of pigging manufacturing in Nigeria as an affirmation of the benefits of the Nigerian Content Act.
He was quoted in a statement to have said at the inauguration of PPA factory in Owerri, Imo State, that the manufacturing know-how, which the company had brought to the country, was adding value to the industry, society and the economy in several ways.
Pipeline pigs are devices that are inserted into and travel the length of a pipeline driven by a product flow. They were originally developed to remove deposits which could obstruct or retard flow through pipeline.
Onuoha said, “Every product manufactured locally helps to give job to some Nigerians, directly and indirectly. The indirect work includes support services such as security, transport, sales, importation processing and mold manufacturing.”
He said when PPA commenced operation, all product designs and development were done abroad, but today, Nigerian engineers had developed the confidence to conceptualise, design and manufacture quality products.
“They are empowered to think up better and smarter ways of accomplishing challenging tasks and to develop machines for such tasks. And when they seek help from outside, they bring ideas to the table and no longer expect to have all the thinking done for them.”
According to the company, one of the key benefits that is coming with the inauguration of PPA is that pipeline infrastructure will now be better maintained as maintenance materials will be readily available unlike in the past when non-availability of pigging products usually delayed major maintenance projects.
As a result, Nigerian pipeline networks will last longer and serve Nigeria better, it said.
Onuoha said PPA engineers had worked with some local machine designers to design and produce some machines currently used in the factory.
He said, “This is a great support and major testament to the potential of made-in-Nigeria machinery for manufacturing applications. The success of PPA will encourage people in other segments of the oil industry to start considering how to go beyond services to the manufacturing of some of the products they use in their services, and these small steps would someday add up and lead to the development of a viable manufacturing industry.”
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