Empower states to explore minerals deposits and diversify economy

LACK of awareness about the
locations of mineral resources in
Nigeria makes the country almost
exclusively dependent on oil today even
though we established ourselves as an
agricultural society many years ago.
Industrial Great Britain derives great
wealth from the exploitation and the use
of kaolin and coal at home. She also exports
large quantities of these two minerals to
earn considerable foreign currencies.
Nigeria is very rich in these two minerals,
yet she does not use or derive any wealth
from their presence. Nigeria's coal deposit
at Udi near Enugu is among the best in
the world. We used it to run our railways
and generate electricity many years ago.
It is now abandoned. In the centre of
Minna, the capital of Niger State, lies a
rich deposit of kaolin the extent of which
will last more than one hundred years were
we to exploit it. This kaolin we can use in
the production of ceramics, paper filling,
paint making, etc, as well as export it to
earn foreign currencies.
The people of Minna don't even know
that such rich deposit exists. A state
hospital comfortably sits on this mineral
deposit; neither the contractors nor the
supervisors raised alarm about the look of
the unusual soil while the foundation of
the hospital was being laid. This writer
discovered the presence of the mineral
when he went to the site in 1989 to prepare
a report on the condition of the hospital for
the Federal Ministry of Health which was
in the process of taking a decision to
complete the construction of the hospital
for Niger State.
Every state of this country has one
mineral deposit or the other in its territory.
This writer picked sample of bitumen from
Imeri village near Ijebu Ode in December
1986 and informed of the presence of
bitumen in Ogun State later in the Comet
newspaper. Agbabu in Ondo State is
believed to have the largest deposit of
bitumen in Nigeria, spreading to Edo
State, Ogun State and Lagos State.
Reference to this deposit was made in
1896. One hundred and eleven years after,
foundation three centuries ago.
We can earn double what we earn from
the sale of crude oil if we care to add value
to the crude by refining it before we sell it.
The Japanese asserted this economic
advantage long ago in 1901, refining her
own crude oil obtained from the northern
island of Hokkaido and the prefectures of
Yamagata and Shizuoka in the the central
island of Honshu. We pass the gas layer
before getting to the crude oil layer. What
was the reason why we encouraged the
oil companies to waste away the gas by
flaring instead of first collecting it and
Imeri, Ijebu-Ode and see to it that the roads
on the campus can be up-dated with the
bitumen collected, maybe also extract
petroleum from the collection.
Involvements of this nature may even
dictate the directions of some of the
students as the process is bound to open a
lot of opportunities for them after
graduation. The universities in Enugu
should also, without delay, do something
positive about the coal near Enugu. Some
Nigerians who have made chemical
analysis of the coal are positive about its
quality. Besides using it to generate
electricity, it can be exported to earn foreign
currency, it can also be used for steel
production. The university at Makurdi may
wish to take advantage of the rock salt
deposit in Benue State and through small
scale prospecting and exploitation supply
the salt needs of Nigeria, thereby save large
sums in foreign currency used in
importing this commodity into the country.
Lagos may resume what it was best at before
its bombardment in 1851, by collecting
water from the sea, dry and make cheap
and high quality salt for use in Nigeria
today. The beach at Badagry is ideal for
this today.
Deposits of graphite exists in Birnin
Kebbi and Adamawa, exploitation of this
mineral will stimulate the production of
lead pencils and carbon bushes for our cars,
the universities nearby may get involved
to remain relevant! Mica exists in Kabba
(Kogi) and Dukku (Niger); this is relevant
in electrical insulation. Will the university
in Lokoja turn its face away from taking
advantage of this very valuable mineral
deposit? The list is endless.
We attend colleges and pass out, and for
several years we have no employment.
These are some of the ways we can bring
about a change in our society for the better.
Ideas change men, ideas shape nations.
By Omotayo Adeolu
THE Nigerian will always be
a Nigerian. When in other
climes, people accept
responsibility for their failure, the
Nigerian will always find reasons
and will be the last to accept his
fault. It traverses every part of our
being as a nation. Several
applicants died as a result of the
glaring incompetence of our
Immigration authorities, no one
opted to take responsibility. The
NNPC accounts have been
battling to be reconciled in the
past several months, no one has
volunteered to take responsibility,
though the account is supposed
to be up to date, at all times and
be ready for public scrutiny.
Because we are not tidy at doing
things, there are always
tardiness, as witnessed by the ongoing
South Africa and Nigeria
impasse over $15 million.
Nothing happens in Nigeria
without a reason. A person travels
home to his village, comes back,
maybe as a result of the stress of
the journey, he collapses and
dies. The death is attributed to
"juju" from the village, maybe
caused by an old grandmother
who never knew he existed. You
are sacked for incompetence and
you attribute it to tribal factors.
That is the nature of Nigerians
and that is why our leaders and
politicians are taking us for
granted, because they attribute
reasons for any obvious madness.
Fresh school graduates are now
made to pay N4000 to register for
the compulsory NYSC
programme that is supposed to
be a service to the nation. Why
should these young school
leavers be made to bear the cost?
Why can't the NYSC authorities
work out the cost and put it in their
budget for approval? Why must
people suffer because a negligible
few want to get rich? The NYSC
must reconsider this obnoxious
policy, it is not heard of.
The excuse syndrome recently
got to its peak when the coach of
our Super Eagles told journalists,
on his return from the Sudan
fiasco, that his team was
sabotaged and that is why they
lost to Sudan. So, who is the
saboteur? Coaches and players
who refuse to play until match
allowances are paid or the NFA
that decides to 'siddon look'? What
a reason! Simple "I am sorry we
have failed the nation" would
have been enough, but, not so for
a typical Nigerian.
Our representatives have failed
to realise that the glory for any
victory go to them, as individuals
first, before the nation. It gives
them the required international
exposure that catapults one to the
peak of the profession. There are
monetary rewards which are
sometimes accompanied by other
material benefits. The now former
Super Eagles coach, Stephen
Keshi, is a proud recipient of the
MON award. Victory, therefore,
is for their individual glory. So,
why are they careless with it?
The last time the Eagles played
good football was in the AFCON
competition in South Africa last
year. Since then, it has been on
the downward slide. A major
reason for this is that our players
and coaches have chosen the
pecuniary options over others.
You will notice that each time
Nigerian players begin to put on
airs, their form begin to decline.
It did not start today, past players
like Okocha, Oliseh, etc,
exhibited this trait and their
careers declined accordingly.
There was a time Okocha got lost
in London trying to locate the
Super Eagles camp base.
The Sudan game was a
complete eye sore. I do not know
how to describe it. Our players
were passing the ball to the
opponents and running away
from tackles, while shooting high
balls to no one in particular, it was
nauseating.
Keshi needs to asses his own
performance: eleven games, five
losses, five draws and, only one
win. So, the slide did not start
now, Sudan was only an
accumulation of the build-up.
Keshi has been building since
he came in and in the process,
he managed to drop useful
players who helped him to win
the Nations Cup like Sunday
Mbah, Brown Ideye - his
combination with Emenike, Ike
Uche and others was superb. In
their stead, he brought in very
average players who could not
rise to the occasion.
The absence of a creative mid
fielder has been there since Keshi
took over. Three years after, he
has not been able to fill that
vacuum; that does not show
competence.
All over the world, players that
excel from the youth teams are
drafted into the senior teams. We
did that with Kanu, Oruma,
Okocha and others. Why did
Keshi chose to ignore Iheanacho
who sparkled in the Under-18
World Cup tournament? To make
best player in any World Cup
competition is not a small feat.
Keshi should have included him
in his team. Mexico did it for Dos
Santos and Argentina did it for
Messi. Dropping Iheanacho was
not a good strategy on Keshi's part
and that is the sentiment issue that
critics are accusing him of. As far
as I am concerned, at least three
of those Under-17 boys should
have been drafted straight to the
Eagles. The right back, where we
still have problems till date, the
goal keeper and the creative
midfield, where we have
Iheanacho. The future of the
Eagles is in the hands of the
youths.
Keshi also displayed very
unpatriotic tendencies by openly
flirting with other nations like
South Africa for employment
while still in charge of our Eagles.
That was a big distraction which,
I believe, affected his focus.
His relationship with his
employers, the NFF, was not the
best. That is not a winning
strategy for a super coach. How
can you be fighting with your
bosses and expect to succeed? It
is also alleged that he dumped
all those who assisted him with
technical inputs during his
successful Nations Cup runs.
Keshi does not stay in Nigeria
to monitor his players. So, for the
period he was in charge of the
Eagles, he operated like an
expatriate coach.
Keshi displayed
very unpatriotic
tendencies by
openly flirting with
other nations for
employment while
still in charge of
Eagles; that was a
big distraction
which, I believe,
affected his focus
If we will
encourage
every state to
get involved
in the
exploitation of
minerals
within its area
of authority,
we shall begin
to talk about
“resource
development”
rather than
“resource
control”
depositing in the market before
coming to the crude oil itself?
We made ourselves poorer by
not asking questions and
getting positive replies for the
many years the gas remain
flared. This writer is aware the
flaring has been going on for
about 50 years. Why? Gas
flaring must cease. Time to
take our destiny into our own
hands is today, not tomorrow.
Our universities should be
encouraged to share in the
process of our industrial
development. They should
take the lead to investigate what
value they can add to a mineral
or what use they can put such
mineral to.
The University of Technology
in Minna may wish to
investigate further the kaolin
in Minna, use it for ceramics,
etc; the Chemical Engineering
Department of the University
at Ago-Iwoye many wish to
take sample of bitumen at
we have not taken any
decision to exploit it. If we will
encourage every state to get
involved in the exploitation of
minerals within its area of
authority, we shall begin to talk
about “resource
development” rather than
“resource control”.
The preparation of a
geological map of Nigeria
showing precisely what
mineral deposits exist in each
state will stimulate interest in
the mineral wealth of each
state and the desire to share
in the duty to mine such
mineral deposits of one's
state. Legislation empowering
states as well as individuals
to get involved in the
exploitation of minerals in
every part of the country will
make the growth of Nigerian
economy compare with that
of the United States of America
in her early years when she
was laying her own economic