Ondo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr Donald Ojogo, 2nd R, with officials of the bitumen mining company and equipment
By Banji Ayoola
At last, the much awaited exploitation of Nigeria’s vast bitumen deposit has rolled off the ground as the pilot exploitation of the mineral has started in Ondo State, the state with the longest coastline and the hub of the nation’s fabulous bitumen belt.
Nigeria is reputed to have the second largest bitumen deposit in the world after Canada, and the largest in Africa with over 42 billion cubic reserves bitumen of the highest quality.
The nation’s fabulous bitumen belt runs across Delta, Edo, Ondo, Ogun and Lagos States, with its centre located within the southern part of Ondo State, particularly in the Irele, Okitipupa and Gbejuloda axis, a vast area of land which sits virtually on bitumen.
Bitumen was first discovered around 1900 in Agbabu by a German Company.
Following the approval last week by the Federal Executive Council, FEC, Ond had last week of a new policy on local production of bitumen in the country, Ondo State and its partners, South West Bitumen Limited, moved to site at Agbabu in Irele Local Goernment to roll the project off the ground after many years of delay.
A representative of the company, Engr Oluwatominiyi Adeiya, told reporters while conducting them round the site that the needed equipment for scooping, excavation and processing have been procured for the commencement of the first local bitumen exploitation in Africa.
He said:”We have brought in two categories of equipment, the first category is the mining while the second category is for the processing. For the mining, we have bulldozers and excavator to be used for clearing of areas of interest.
“We have been able to map out areas of interest. We are not going to leave the areas open. Once the top soil has been opened, then the excavator comes in.”
Several mining and processing equipment including bulldozers, excavator, wheel loader and mobile processing plants were already on ground, the first time ever that the project would be accorded such attention.
Identifying the type of bitumen in Ondo State as tarsand variant which needs specialised technology for its processing into asphalt, Adeiya assured that by the time the company’s processing plants are in place and operating at full capacity, importation of bitumen product into Nigeria would reduce drastically.
He said that the bitumen project has begun operation as a pilot case with the production of 20, 000 metric tons monthly.
He added that before the end of the year, the product would be ready for identified and interested local off takers across the country thereby reducing the amount of foreign exchange being expended on the over 500, 000 metric tons of bitumen needs of Nigeria annually.
Also, the Company’s Mining Engineer, Wilfred Akinyeke, noted that the company would gradually increase its production capacity from 20,000 metric tons to 50,000 metric tons monthly and more.
He explained that all the economic trees and crops within the mining area would be paid for to the land owners in the next few days, adding that all necessary studies and reports including Environmental and Social Impact Assessment have already been carried out.
Speaking at the site, the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr Donald Ojogo said the project is a dream come true and a promise made real.
He added that Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has once again actualised one of his key promises of exploiting the state’s vast natural resources through direct investment for the well-being of the people.
Assuring the company of official support at making the state conducive for genuine investors, he pleaded with the company to be good to its host community.
Ojogo, who commended the company for its commitment so far, said the latest feat has shown that the state is almost sailing through to its investment destination.
He said that in a matter of months the state would be a different business hub much more than what is on ground at the Ondo-Linyl Industrial Hub, Ore, as many companies would also be interested in the project.
On his part, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Development and Investment/CEO ONDIPA, Mr Boye Oyewumi, appreciated the Federal Government for the grant of the prospecting licence to the company.
He particularly gave kudos to his boss for his unwavering commitment to making the state an economic hub in the country, noting that the Governor’s untiring efforts have gone beyond rhetorics but have now catalysed into a strategic pathway for Port Ondo.
Oyewumi added that bitumen exploitation would greatly boost the revenue generation of the state part from employment generation.
He said that the intention is to make Ondo state and the bitumen site the capital of bitumen in Africa, saying the Akeredolu administration has broken the barrier.
He confirmed that all the economic trees and crops within the mining lists would be paid for to the land owners in the next few days, just as he added that all necessary studies and reports including Environmental, Social and Impact Assessment have already been done.
Expectedly, the project would turn around the fortune of the state and the Country, which for years have relied mainly on crude oil as the principal source of revenue.
The project’s take-off has lingered since the administration of the late Governor Adebayo Adefarati, which put the project in the front burner of its programmes, and committed personnel and resources to ensure its take-off.
Adefarati, who built several facilities in Akure the state capital, and Ore, the emerging business and commercial nerve centre of Ondo State, and set up the state Bitumen Exploration and Exploitation Company, BEECON, to oversee the project, went as far as inviting the then President Olusegun Obasanjo to the state, in demonstration of his seriousness about involving the Federal Government deeply in the project and ensuring its speedy take off.
Following up on the former President’s visit, the Federal Government set up offices in the state to coordinate activities and give the necessary on-the-spot federal input to plans, indicating the seriousness also of the Obasanjo administration towards the project.
But along the line, the project ran into bad waters, as successive administrations, hampered mainly by lack of the necessary political will to commit the required huge financial resources to the project, and lacking the zeal and political will of Adefarati to push the project through despite all odds, consigned the project to the back seat.
Particularly, successive administrations both at the state and national levels, were faced with the bitter truth that exploration and exploitation of bitumen are more expensive, and capital intensive than those of crude oil. Besides, they were confronted with the fact that government alone could not face the project. Investors both local and foreign, in large numbers are needed as partners.
These have been the major reasons for the delay. However, the new positively aggressive moves spurred by the Oluwarotimi Akeredolu administration is an incentive to attract more investors..
With the steps taken so far on the project by the Akeredolu administration, Nigeria may soon be on the way to having another fabulously rich source of foreign exchange earning apart from crude oil, whose fortune has dwindled in the recent times.
This administration has made relentless efforts to attract the attention of world class firms to the rich natural endowment in the state .
In 2017, it hosted diplomatic communities to a dinner in Abuja to showcase the various investment opportunities in Ondo state to the outside world . High commissions and embassies that were present at the dinner included those of Britain, China, Australia, India, Japan, Korea, Ghana, Ethiopia and South Africa.
Multi-lateral agencies like the World Bank, United Nations International Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF), Africa Development Bank (AfDB), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), US Public Health Service (USPHS), African Development Bank (AfDB), were also there.
Consequent upon this, eleven private firms were in Akure, the state capital on Thursday 17th May, 2018 to showcase their technical and financial capabilities. The event was tagged “BEECON Partnership Engagement “.
In his welcome address, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Development and Investment, who doubles as Director of Business Development and Investment Management at ONDIPA, Mr. Femi Akarakiri said bitumen exploration will provide not less than 30,000 direct jobs in the state.
According to him, bitumen was discovered in the state in 1904 but nothing has been done on it due to the expensive cost of exploration which the government cannot invest on alone, hence the need to invite investors to partner the state.
He explained that the BEECON Partnership Engagement programme is aimed at fashioning out modalities to mine bitumen product and to make the process transparent.
“The purpose of this programme is to bring partners to Ondo state to partner with BEECON, we want to allow private organizations invest on bitumen exploration, we have the licences and we are calling on private sectors to partner with us, to bring their finances and expertises to explore the product.
Some of the investors present at the event for presentations included, Energy and Mineral Resources Limited, BML energy, CRCC construction group, Globaloilsands, Liquefied Resources (LR) USA LTD.
Others are Zenilum Company LTD, CCC Snirand Technologies LTD, and Drichels Technologies.
