By Junaid Abdullahi
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, has charged the 18 winners of the first round of the Bitumen blocks bidding process to work hard to develop Nigeria’s Bitumen deposits.
This was disclosed in a statement signed by the minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Segun Tomori.
Speaking during a meeting with the concessionaires on Thursday at the ministry headquarters in Abuja, Alake urged them to live up to expectations by complying with the terms of engagement and relevant sections of the Mining Act while taking cognisance of the host communities and seeking their cooperation.
Bitumen, a black viscous mixture of hydrocarbons obtained naturally or as residue from petroleum distillation is used for road surfacing, roofing, adhesives and insulation, and is found in Lagos, Ogun, Ondo and Edo states.
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, had complained about the exorbitant pricing while bemoaning the low quality of materials used during road construction.
But speaking at the event, Alake urged the concessionaire to make the country a major net exporter of the product to the rest of the world.
Alake said, “With an estimated reserve of 42 billion barrels of Bitumen and the second largest deposit in the world, Nigeria has no business importing Bitumen, we should be a major net exporter to the rest of the world and we have no choice but to make this a reality.
“We want to know for instance as you move forward, how much of taxes you are paying, the royalties you are remitting, the local value addition that you are putting in place, the local employment generation or the multiplier effect and then the impact on your host communities.
“I will advise that you endeavour to engage your host communities and get their buy-in through Corporate Social Responsibility and other efforts you can make to ensure seamless operations which will culminate in maximum beneficiation for you as investors, the communities and the government.”
Alake, while hinting at another round of bidding, urged the first-round winners to post superlative performance, which would serve as encouragement to prospective investors.
The minister promised the support of the Federal Government for the Bitumen investors, stating that their success holds immense potential for economic growth and prosperity, heralding diversification of the economy.
In his remarks, the Director-General, Mining Cadastral Office, Obadiah Nkom revealed that there have been two unsuccessful attempts at concessioning Nigeria’s Bitumen blocks in 2002 and 2008.
He noted that following the latest successful bidding process, the MCO granted 34 bitumen licenses, comprising 18 exploration licenses and 16 mining licenses.
The approval was granted after the minister’s approval and a final endorsement by the Federal Executive Council.
In another development, Alake inaugurated two committees for the development of Bitumen.
According to the statement, the first is a ministerial committee chaired by Nkom and a technical committee to monitor and evaluate Bitumen activities chaired by the Director, Mines Inspectorate of the Ministry, Imam Ganiyu
