‘Nigerian Content Law has brought exciting times’
Future Concerns Nigeria Limited, a specialised safety equipment solutions provider in the oil and gas industry, was recently granted rights to build a multi_million dollar service centre in Nigeria by MSA of United States, the world’s leading manufacturer of safety equipment.
In this interview with Yemie Adeoye, the Managing Director, Mr. Tony Oguike, spoke on the importance of the project, the Nigerian Content Law, among other industry issues. Excerpts:
What are your areas of specialisation as it relates to the oil and gas industry?
Future Concerns Nigeria Limited specialises in providing optimum support service for the oil and gas industry, particularly in the safety equipment area, creating an intelligent one-stop-shop business solution for the procurement, stocking, distribution and servicing of industry standard and globally certified safety and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in Nigeria.
With strong alliances with leading manufacturers and three local strategically located purpose-built offices and warehouses in Nigeria, well-stocked with millions of dollars worth standard industry safety equipment and critical life-saving products and services; a well-versed staff; years of experience; a proven operating system and a strong can-do attitude; we are more than well-positioned to provide tailor-made solutions for our existing and would-be clients in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria.
When did you start operations and what has been your main focus since you started operations?
We started the company in 1997, and our main focus is to provide corporate clients total quality, time and cost-effective support service delivered in precision. Our goal is to ensure that all our customers receive the best products for their unique requirements allied to unrivalled quality of service from initial advice to final delivery.
When we started, it was our desire to be the best distributor for industry standard equipment. So, we stock industry standard equipment and now, we also do what we call ‘adding local content’ to the already existing products.
Tony Oguike
We are a reliable company that holds good inventory of full line safety equipment and poised to deliver instant results in real time and synchrony. We are indeed, a company that can supply high volumes, low volumes and can also provide all year round support and after the sale service for life equipment, apparel, signage and all kinds of personal protective equipment.
What exactly are these safety products and equipment?
We stock a full line of safety equipment from head-to-toe protection, gas detectors, safety boots, breathing apparatus and gas protectors. Specifically, we distribute air-purifying equipment; supplied-air respirators; fire helmets; body armor; head, eye, face and hearing protection; fall protection and mining and specialty products.
Our services are not restricted to the oil and gas industry; we also supply the construction industry and the fire service. Our focus is on protecting the workers on site. This is one-stop solution that provides our corporate clients with a solution for body protection; breathing protection and confine space protection. It is an absolute one-stop location and we are very proud of the fact that we can provide our clients with a one-stop solution.
How do you guarantee the quality of your products and equipment?
As I told you, we represent leading manufacturers. Therefore, the emphasis is on the quality of the products. All our products meet the American National Safety Institute highest standard and the British Safety Institute highest standard.
The standard of our products also exceed the requirements of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, and that is the simple reason why we have not yet gone into manufacturing because the platform is not yet in place for us to manufacture. These products are life-saving equipment and the manufacturing of these equipment goes with a lot of technical expertise and high level certifications.
That is why we are very excited that all the manufacturers are very passionate about Future Concerns service. MSA is the world’s leading manufacturer of safety products designed to protect people throughout the world. MSA safety appliances have a tradition of over 100 years of sustained quality. It was an honour for them to choose Future Concerns to represent them exclusively in Nigeria. The quality of all the products within Future Concerns line exceeds the industry standard for the global oil and gas industry.
All our products are backed by after-service and because of the strategic alliance with the manufacturers, we also do provide after free sale information, which is very vital to safety equipment programme. These are what distinguish our products from others.
Is Future Concerns a wholly indigenous company and what is your specific mission?
Future Concerns is 100 per cent local company. We do have experts, who are thoroughly immersed in our system. There is a lot of transfer of technology. The expatriates you saw in our company were actually here on a one week visit, to certify and sign agreements with us on the new ultra-modern Future Concerns Service Centre to be built in Nigeria.
Our mission is to provide an all-purpose, intelligent and optimum support service in safety equipment, stocking and distribution, which guarantees the lowest non-productive time (NPT) for our company at the best price for quality. Our greatest asset is our can-do-attitude, quick decision making, proven operating systems and well-versed staff, which allow us to shrink or enlarge, as the case may be, to provide tailor-made business solutions and true time cost effective systems for our clients.
As an operator in the oil and gas sector, how has the recently enacted Nigerian Content Act impacted on your operations?
It is a very exciting bill but Future Concerns Nigeria Limited, as an indigenous company, was a little bit ahead of the Act because we were already in the mood of the essence of local content. We wanted to be a commercial pipe; we wanted to be able to absorb content and transfer it to Nigerians and also yield the solution to the manufacturers.
So, yes, it is a very exciting time and we have always been in the mood of the essence of the local content drive. As you can see, we have already jump-started by bringing a multinational to give us the rights to actually service under their brand. We are building this facility with obviously the guardians of MSA. It has never been done in Africa.
You were recently granted the rights to build a service centre in Nigeria by one of your reputable partners. Can you explain the significance of this project?
We are very excited about expanding our current state to include a service centre, which is branded by MSA. MSA is the world’s leading manufacturer of safety products designed to protect people throughout the world, with its headquarters in Pittsburgh in the United States. Many MSA products, while simple to use and maintain, are sophisticated in design.
They typically integrate any combination of electronics, mechanical systems and advanced materials to protect users against hazardous or life-threatening situations. It is a publicly held company and its stock is traded over the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol, MSA. A constant goal at MSA is to provide customers with a superior customer experience. It begins with the development of high quality products and continues with support services that exceed customer expectations. The company believes that customer satisfaction is the ultimate measure of an organisational performance.
Normally, we maintain these equipment abroad. We have committed resources and we have been compliant with the distribution contract agreement and we are very fortunate to be selected as the company to partner with MSA to build in Nigeria, a service centre to maintain its equipment. It brings a lot of value to the clients; it saves money for the clients because we normally service these equipments abroad. It will also generate a lot of employment for Nigerians.
The Future Concerns Service Centre will definitely save a lot of money for clients, not only directly but also latently. These are life-saving products and they have to be maintained. Different components have timeliness for maintenance. Before 2011 when the service centre will be ready, we will continue to ship them abroad for them to maintain and bring back.
We are very excited that we are going to do that here with Nigerian engineers. Part of the agreement is that MSA is going to train Nigerians and our clients on how to maintain these critical equipments. We have just been awarded the rights and it has been signed in Pittsburgh in the United States.
When we started, we set out to be the best distributor and we are right there. So, we have decided to take it to the next level, which is to build a service centre. Beyond the service centre, we want to see ourselves, with the right timing and platform, to actually be a globally certified manufacturer, ultimately using Future Concerns branded products in the future.
MSA gave you an award recently. What is the idea behind a partner giving an award to another partner?
Normally, in such relationships, you have targets. You have indices of measurement of how a partnership is growing and where Future Concerns Nigeria Limited is today, is where MSA expected it to be in the next 10 years. So, the award is in recognition of the excellent services provided by Future Concerns in the Nigerian geo market.
