Exploitation of Ondo State’s bitumen deposit has always been a major issue during governorship elections. The campaign for the forthcoming poll in the key Southwest state, which has the second-largest reserve of bitumen in the world, has commenced. Correspondent OSAGIE OTABOR reports that this year’s election is not an exception
In every election year in Ondo State, one issue politicians take to the electorates as their plans to generate employment and increase revenue is the desire to ensure bitumen exploitation commences in the state. Since 1999 when the country returned to democratic rule, successive administrations in the state have based their campaigns on harnessing the huge bitumen reserve in the state for the benefit of all but the many promises to exploit bitumen have remained a mirage in Ondo State.
It has been estimated that Nigeria has a reserve of about 42.74 billion metric tons of bitumen, mostly in Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa states. Ondo State has the second-largest reserve of bitumen in the world.
During the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, Ondo State under late former Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu was awarded a bitumen mining licence. It was projected then that by the first quarter of 2019, bitumen from Agbabu would start to be put to use in the paving of roads in the Sunshine State.
Former Commissioner of Regional Integration and Special Duties, Prof Bayonile Ademodi, who spoke at a meeting with Licencee Bitumen Companies Operating in the state, said, “I can assure the whole world that in two years, Ondo state would be on the world map in terms of bitumen exploitation”.
Ahead of the 2020 governorship election, an indigenous firm, the South West Bitumen Limited (SWB) announced that it was set to commence modular exploitation of bitumen deposits in Ondo State. The firm which secured a 25-year renewable operational mining license for exploiting bitumen in the southern part of the state said it has deployed initial processing and mining equipment to its operational base located at Lamidifa in Irele Local Government Area.
Representative of the firm, Adeiya Oluwatominiyi told reporters who were at the site that the firm planned to start with modular processing for its pilot operations using German-made technology.
Adeiya, an engineer, said experiments showed the bitumen Ondo State is in Tar Sand, adding that the plan was to produce 20 tons of bitumen monthly to reach 50,000 tonnes monthly when operation reached full capacity. He said: “We have brought the earth moving equipment like the bulldozer, excavator and the wheel loaders.
“This is a pilot case. It is a modular exploitation. What we have in Nigeria is tar sand bitumen. Not like in petroleum when you are tapping from it to get bitumen. We are not getting it from the cracking of anything. What we need to do is to heat it with the required technology.”
Former Ondo Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Donald Ojogo, who also spoke at the project site, said the exploitation of bitumen was part of the many promises of the late Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu to industrialise the state. What they are trying to do is a pilot project. This is the first time any company will expend so much on this project. This is the first time a company will take the license and efforts and commitment would be seen unlike in the past where people take the license and go home to sleep.
“You know they cannot just jump over several fences and we are almost sailing through our investment destination. As a state, we require bitumen exploitation and the deep sea port. We are into this now and it is very reassuring that the soul of the Akeredolu will not rest until this is achieved.
“I know with what they have done, more and more firms will be ready to invest in this. It’s not easy to deploy this kind of technology and equipment. In six, seven months, we will be producing bitumen from here.”
Last month, management of the Owena Bitumen Exploration Nigeria Limited led by ira chairman, Alhaji Musa Ibrahim Mantu, informed Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa that the firm has secured approximately one billion dollars in financing from Europe to deploy advanced bitumen technology with the support of world-class partners within the next 12 months.
Alhaji Mantu led his team, which included expatriates from Italy and France, on a courtesy visit to Governor Aiyedatiwa to demand collaboration with the state government on bitumen exploitation. He said the firm specializes in mining, refining, and processing of bitumen and other allied resources.
The primary goal, Mantu said, was to explore bitumen in Ondo State, with a 10ggm processing plant already under construction in Ijebu Ode, projected to be the largest in the world.
He said the company has secured approximately one billion dollars in financing from Europe and aims to deploy advanced bitumen technology with the support of world-class partners within the next 12 months.
He added that their collaboration would leverage local raw materials with their technological expertise to process resources independently, minimizing the need for crude oil transportation.
Governor Aiyedatiwa, who assured the delegation of his administration’s cooperation to ensure a secure and conducive business environment, said the proposal submitted by the company would be reviewed.
The spokesman for the Ondo State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Kennedy Peretei, said the planned $1bn investment by the Owena bitumen firm was another scam and a hollow promise to the people of Ondo State in an election year.
Peretei said nothing was heard from the Southwest Bitumen Company after it reportedly moved equipment to the site ahead of the 2020 governorship election.
He added: “For Mr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa to regale us with new tales of expatriates from Italy and France, who have sourced $1b to explore bitumen with a processing plant under construction in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State is laughable. It is another scam and a hollow promise to the people of Ondo State in an election year.
“Did Mr Governor enquire from his expatriates whether they have conducted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in the areas from which they intend to explore the bitumen? The communities that will be so affected, are they being carried along in this project? The government should do due diligence in all matters of this nature instead of playing to the gallery.
“The exploitation of bitumen has been in the pipeline for a long time, beginning from the era of Dr Olusegun Agagu, who governed the state between May 2003 and February 2009. Dr Agagu was a geologist. However, the right framework and template must be adopted to prevent a devastating effect on the environment. It has always been in the pipeline.”
Ondo Commissioner for Energy and Natural Resources, Razaq Obe, did not pick up calls to his cell phone. Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Otunba Wale Akinlosotu, did not respond to messages sent to his phone.
The PDP’s Agboola Ajayi is Governor Aiyedatiwa’s main challenger in this year’s governorship election scheduled for November.
