The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has hosted the first quarter 2026 edition of its Book Reading Series with a one-time Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime and Safety Administration (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside as guest author.
The event which focused on the 2025, 204-page book of the author, Leading in a Storm: Practical Leadership Strategies in Crisis Situations, had a capacity audience drawn from higher institutions, the mass media, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), and Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), with several others participating virtually.
The Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe in a welcome address said the book reading programme which he described as “a signature event” speaks to creativity, which is one of the Board core values.
Ogbe who was represented at the occasion by NCDMB General Manager, Corporate Communications Division (CCD), Dr. Obinna Ezeobi explained that the event is part of the Board’s strategy in fostering intellectual activity and sophistication among stakeholders as well as building the abilities of Nigerians to operate productively in the oil and gas industry and linkage sectors which is one of its core mandates.
He enumerated several initiatives of the Board geared towards advancement of research and technology, notably six Centres of Excellence in the nation’s six geopolitical zones, each of which has a unique theme.
These are Niger Delta University (NDU), Amassoma with Marine and Petrochemical Technologies as theme; Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna (Engineering Design), and Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), (Local Raw Materials Substitution).
Others are Modibbo Adama University of Technology (MAUTECH), Yola (Safety and Environment Studies); Usman Dan Fodio University (UDUS), Sokoto (Renewable Energy), and the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) (Geology and Geophysical Studies).
Additional research centres established by NCDMB include Geosciences Research Centre at the University of Lagos and Marine and Offshore Training Centre at Rivers State University, Port Harcourt. The latest is the Centre of Excellence in Gas Development at Delta State University, Abraka being developed in partnership with Seplat Energy Plc.
According to Ogbe, NCDMB is collaborating with Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited (RAEC), First Exploration and Petroleum Development Company Limited, and the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), to organise the first Nigerian Engineering Olympiad (NEO) which was launched on November 20, 2025 in Abuja.
The Olympiad slated to end in April, 2026, is to encourage final-year and postgraduate students to be innovative in applying engineering principles to real-world operational challenges in and out of oil and gas industry.
In the book conversation segment, moderated by Mr. Victor Binawari, Peterside explained the inspiration behind his book, copies of which had been distributed gratis to attendees.
Said he: “My own lived experience informed the contents and thrusts of the work. Every single day, Nigerians face one crisis or another and the experiences posit weakness of leadership.”
He recalled his time at the National Assembly when he served as Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on the Downstream Petroleum sector, with the unremitting crises in fuel supply.
According to him, as NIMASA Director General he had to contend with recurring incidences of piracy within Nigeria’s territorial waters. Then the COVID-19 pandemic which saw many world leaders fumbling, unable to determine how best to safeguard the health of citizens. Yet another inspiration was from an uncomplimentary remark by a professor at America’s Kellog School of Management to the effect that “Africa is in a near-permanent state of crises.”
Continuing, he said: “I began to investigate how leaders can perform better in crisis situations. Calmness, clarity, adaptability, and resilience, are critically important. What kind of choices leaders make when faced with crises would reveal the stuff they are made of”.
Peterside outlined eight competencies of crisis leadership, namely, contextual intelligence (“the ability to read situations accurately and understand the deeper forces at play”); Calm Confidence (which provides emotional stability); Sense-making (which enables a leader to find patterns in chaos and make meaning from confusion); strategic decision-making; clear communication; strategic flexibility; co-ordinating teamwork, and facilitating learning. Every great leader should rank high enough in these.
On his style, which relies heavily on storytelling, he stated that stories are relatable, memorable and engaging, and that “stories teach you principles which you can apply.”
Supervisor, CCD of NCDMB, Mr. Teleola Oyeleke in his closing remarks, thanked Peterside for readily accepting the invitation and for the wealth experience he shared at the event.
Oyeleke also thanked all participants while advising them to read and digest the contents of the book.
He also echoed the guest author by challenging the attendees to have personal development programmes.
