Prof. Olugbengba Okunlola, is President, Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society and a lecturer of Applied Geochemistry/Economic Geology at the University of Ibadan, Oyo State. In this interview with Sunday Oguntola, he speaks on the huge untapped potentials in the solid mineral sector as well as how Nigeria can start benefitting from its vast mineral deposits. Excerpts:
How endowed is Nigeria in terms of solid minerals?
The truth is that Nigeria is highly endowed. I use the word ‘highly’ without reservations. In terms of natural resources and mineral resources, oil and gas is well known. We know where we are globally.
We have good reserves with almost 40 something billion barrels in reserve. We have billions and billions of cubic feet of gas that could still last for the next 100 years despite constant flaring. For oil, we have enough reserves for the next 40 years even if we don’t discover more.
But the problem is that oil and gas is so much exposed to the vagaries and fluctuation of global economy. It is one key area of political maneuvering all over the world. In fact, people say you can trace most political crises to oil and gas.
So, it is dangerous for a country, no matter how endowed you are in that sector, to fix all your hopes in that mono-product. Many countries around are already also discovering oil and gas. In the last ten years, not less than eight African countries have become oil and gas producing to satisfy domestic and public needs.
Globally, Iran will soon start producing after all the embargoes have been lifted by America. A country, like Nigeria, then must develop alternatives. We are endowed in the solid mineral sector. We have well over 44 mineral types both on occurrence and deposit scales.
Could you explain occurrence and deposit scales?
Deposit means you have proven that it is economic. Occurrence means you have discovered but not done further works to prove if it is economic or not. So, we have minerals at both scales in over 800 locations in the country.
But the challenge, according to statistics from Nigeria’s Geological Survey, is only ten percent of the country, have been mapped to any scale of about 1-100,000. So, there are still hundreds of places of these minerals that haven’t been discovered.
And they are so diverse. They can be found in nearly every corner of the country. Also, each of these mineral deposits is useful including the ones we consider everywhere. For example, the hills and granites that we consider common, when you get to the East or Port-Harcourt, you will know how precious they are.
They need granites to build there but they don’t have it. If you come to a place like Ekiti or Iseyin, you see billions of granites and you think it is so common. So, every mineral endowment is useful. Of the 44 types, at least 20 are of economic values.
Have you been able to quantify what the nation should be making if we were exploring all these minerals?
In terms of naira and kobo, I will say as an expert who has been in the mineral exploration for more than 32 years in public, industry and academic sectors, our endowment in the solid mineral sector is much more than what we have in oil and gas.
In terms of the economic values, in terms of the value-chain opportunities, I will say the oil and gas will only employ just one percent of what the solid mineral sector can engage.
There is a place in Ikomu, Oyo State, in the last ten years, not less than five communities and camps have emerged from the mining activities in the town. That is what is possible. That is what the sector can bring on board.
Unfortunately, most of the raw materials that the minerals can provide for us are being imported. We have most of these things here yet we import them.
Like what and what?
If you look at the barite, you need it a lot for the oil industry. Most of the ceramics, including floor tiles we have in this country. We have billions and billions of tonnes of clays and shades in Nigeria. In virtually every sedimentary basin, you at least not less than 30 to 40 metres thick of clay shade or stones.
There is a formation that spans almost about 300km from Ekpoma to Imo called the lignite belt. These are clays thicker than the ceramics. So, Nigeria has no business importing tiles. You have all the raw materials here too. If you want to gaze the materials, they are all around.
They are within a 400km belt full of not less than 2,000 gazes that have been mapped by various sectors. That is just an example. We have begun to utilize our limestone whereas we were importing cement up till four to five years ago.
The limestone deposit we have in this country can still sustain not less than 100 cement companies. I say this without exaggeration. In the South-West alone, after Abeokuta down to Benin Republic is a belt of continuous occurrence of limestone.
There is an area off Ilaro-Onigbegu area where they just finished exploration of 1km by 1km. We have proven not less than 21 million tonnes of limestone. It is like that in all of the sedimentary basins.
In Sokoto, the Kanabawa formation is about 30km with not less than about 10 metres feet of limestone. In Benue, Gboko, it is the same. And even Cross Rivers where we have one of the purest lime stones in the world stretching towards Uyo. We have the Gombe formation too.
Is it that the government is not aware of these huge deposits?
They do have some of these data. But you see government has no business in mining.
Really?
Yes. When a government mines, you can’t get anything out of it. Look at the coal mines. Why have they been moribund? The era where you can have nationalisation is gone. Government is never good with business. Mining should be left to the investors.
You might blame government but the truth is our private sector does not yet understand the solid mineral sector too. It is not about importing rice and getting your money tomorrow. It is not about manufacturing biscuits and making profit.
It is not only a long term investment but also a knowledge-industry. You need knowledgeable people to do the exploration and mining. You see we have missed the knowledge gap for over 25 years in this country. There has been no serious exploration and it is a chain.
You cannot do mining without exploration; you cannot do exploration without data. You cannot get data without strengthening the basic institutions for the primary data.
For example, the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency has mapped just ten percent of the nation. That is just 1 to 100000. It is the smallest scale. I won’t even put my money in that kind of deposit. You must have at least 1 to 25,000 mapped.
Why can’t they map more? Is it about funding or capacity?
Do you know that in the whole of Mining and Steel Ministry, including MDAs, the number of geologists and mining engineers are less than 300? You have 34 Departments of Geology in this country in public and private universities that churn out up to 1,500 graduates in the market every year.
The Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society has not less than 7,000 Geoscientists on its list. The Council of Mining Engineers and Geoscientists (COMECH) has up to 2,000 registered. So, we have the capacities that are not properly utilised.
Of the 300 geologists and mining engineers in the ministry, less than 100 of them are on the fields. Some of them are in administration departments or promoted out of the field. That is grossly inadequate for us.
This is a country where every inch should be mapped. Tell us the types of rocks and then you can tell the kinds of minerals. When you know the kinds of minerals, you can begin to quantify and give these data to investors.
The job of MDAs is not to produce or mine. That is what they have been doing; they should just provide the data for investors. It is important that government hands off mining but strengthen the institutions, empower the people there and fund them heavily.
How can the country deal with incidences of illegal mining in several communities?
It is a very simple problem. It is not about taking soldiers and the security forces there to guard sites. There is a unit called Mining Inspectorate Division that has less than five vehicles across the nation. You have illegal mining activities in over 600 communities. How can they cover them?
How many personnel do they have? Do they have enough mining inspectors? If they have the logistics and personnel, they will curtail illegal mining. In the 1920 and 30s, they were mining activities in this country. Jos and Enugu were built on mining. Did we hear of illegal mining?
That was because there was close supervision. The headquarters of the Mining Division was in Jos. The administrative headquarters was in Lagos. The money you will spend to provide logistics and personnel, you will get it 100 times over within a year of mining activities.
The miners will stop illegal activities because Nigerians are law-abiding when there is enforcement. Two, they don’t want to die due to pollution. Three, they want to learn good ways of mining. Four, you will get the revenues you need to run the country from them.
If you know the amounts of gold and gemstones smuggled out of this country, you will marvel. In a year, you can have over three tonnes of gemstones smuggled out. A gramme of good tamarind costs not less than N10, 000. A kilogramme can be about N10million. One tonne amounts to thousands of dollars.
But if you spend N100million or N200million to improve logistics, you will get more. The miners will be happy; the government will be happy and good revenues will come in.
We have a robust licensing process but the point is most people getting mining licenses are speculators who have no business being there. They just get licensed and never get to do anything, shutting out the experts. That is why serious mining nations or companies are coming into the country to mine. So, government should license and monitor.
Where are the over 1,500 Geologists produced every year?
They are not on the fields; they are in the banks and ministry of establishment. They are teaching in secondary schools or riding commercial motorcycles. They are everywhere but nowhere, wasting away.
Imagine if we have just 500 Geologists on the field every year, we will cover this country in just five years. In the next fifteen years, Nigeria will be like the Western nations who are not mapping again but have covered everywhere on the largest scale. When we get the data, investors will come in. We must map the entire country as quickly as possible.
There is a place called Iperindo around Ilesa where they have proved close to 100million ounces of gold in just one km area. To me as a geologist, Iperindo is still one of the smallest deposits of gold in the belts we have. You cannot compare it to the endowment in Zamfara, Kebbi and Kogi.
Where does the financial sector come in?
I believe there should be a synergy between the government, private sector and financial sector. The financial sector does not understand the solid mineral sector yet. The whole nation is focused on oil and gas. In the 1920 and 30s, everybody wanted to be in Jos or Enugu.
The knowledge gap has to be filled first. Right now, there is no serious mining in Nigeria. You can have quarrying of limestone or granite. There is no serious underground mine in Nigeria, not even an open cast.
But the truth is that the sector has potentials. They have to put money in it to benefit themselves and the nation. You don’t have to wait for years to get profits from some of the minerals.
Some people have argued that mining can expose us to destabilisation like we have it in Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone…
The fact is not all mining countries have been destabilised. The scenario in every country is different. One good thing for us is that we have solid minerals everywhere. If we have visionary State governments, they will develop their communities without wrangling.
I have about three publications on Itu area in Imo State that has massive clay deposits that can fetch the state good revenues. Ibadan and Abeokuta are the hubs of construction in Lagos. You see trailer loads of granites going to Lagos from these places every day.
Assuming the government opens the Iwere-Ile-Iseyin axis to Lagos, there will be other outlets for materials. It is the same for the Badagry-Sokoto axis. Where there is no gold, there will be something else. In the Niger Delta area, the sand we have there is the best for making glasses. I wonder why Nigerians still import glasses.
The sand deposits in Bayelsa and Delta can serve as glasses for windscreens and windows. The Igbokoda sand deposit in Ondo State is one of the best in the world. So, every state has something and there won’t be that scenario playing out here.
In Plateau, when mining was active, did you hear about cattle rustling? Everybody was rich. When mining stopped, people returned to farming and rustling.
That is the socio problem that comes with not mining resources. I don’t see any resource war in Nigeria because we all have something. With one mineral, you can produce up to five other raw materials.
How do you feel seeing Nigeria doing nothing with its goldmines?
You feel bad and horrible. You feel frustrated. You wonder why we have to suffer in the midst of many. If government puts just about ten percent of what is in oil and gas into the solid mineral sector, our national income will more than triple.
The MDAs in the Ministry of Steel and Mining will be richer than the NNPC. We are talking about 44 minerals with many more being added. In 2006, we were talking about 34 mineral. In eight years, we are talking about 44.
Imagine if we have adequate data acquisition, we will have more minerals that will generate more incomes for us. If there is close monitoring, no gold will be smuggled out; investors will come in. So, we are endowed and it is a shame we are not tapping into them.
What about the likely environmental degradation that comes with mining? Won’t it expose Nigeria to natural disasters?
That is not possible. No matter what people say, we will always need raw materials. Modern technologies require raw materials. So there will always be mining. But close monitoring will prevent environmental degradation.
The Directorate determines how mining sites will be closed after they are opened up and all that. Nigeria is not yet a big mining site so we have time to learn and map out strategies.
We need to move fast because mineral resources always outlive their usefulness. Nigeria was the largest importer of columbite in the world. After sometimes, a new mineral was discovered. So, you could go and drink your columbite.
If you don’t use what you have on time, the value will go away. The tin industry collapsed because the world moved on to plastics. If you don’t sustainably develop what you have, technology will go past it.
Everybody is using cement but one day, the world may say it is no longer fashionable. Our large deposits of limestone will just be there. People are looking for alternatives to oil and gas. When you don’t use your deposits, they will still be there, but they will just become useless.
Imagine you have a presentation for President Buhari on why Nigeria should invest in the solid mineral sector. What will you tell him?
I will tell him that is the future, apart from agriculture. If you cannot feed yourself, you are doomed. The next thing is the solid mineral sector. He should strengthen the institutions in the industry.
Our policy is good and world-class. The roadmap is there but we need to strengthen the agencies with capacity-building and funding.
I will tell him to showcase just about eight of the minerals we have such as the iron ore, limestone, gold, coal and lignite. Bring them up to pilot stages of exploitation. Show the world what is possible, they will come.
We don’t need to pilot the 44 types but just eight of them. There is not yet serious corruption in the industry because it has not fully taken off. Once there is a synergy with the financial sector, the mining sector will literally soar. We have experts here who discovered the 44 minerals we have so far. Once we have credible data, we are good to go.
