The Nation Newspaper

Tag: untapped

  • ‘Africa’s investment opportunities untapped’

    ‘Africa’s investment opportunities untapped’

    Africa still has great business and investment opportunities that are largely untapped, Goldmine Global Services, a Nigerian firm which facilitates inter-nations trade fairs,  has said.

    The company said the trade volume between Indonesia and Africa as at 2016 was $7.6 billion, of which trade with Nigeria stood at $2.5 billion.

    Its Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ismael Balogun, who spoke with reporters during the briefing on the inaugural edition of the Indonesia-African Forum tagged “Sustainable trade and investment cooperation”,  said Africa was a potential market for Indonesian consumer goods, such as garments, technical cooperation, motorised vehicles, among several products that could be in demand in African.

    He said: “Similarly, Africa is swarming with raw materials Indonesia may need for its manufacturing industries. More than 20 Indonesian companies, including textile producer Indorama, Orange Drugs, Kalbe Farma and Tolaram Group, have partnered Nigerian firms and have invested in Africa. There is a N5 billion modular refinery in Akwa Ibom State, N6 billion investment between Tolaram Group and Kelloggs, Indomie instant noodles and the manufacturer, Indofood Sukses Makmur, has six plants in Africa with the biggest one in Nigeria.”

    According to him, the Indonesian-African Forum, slated to hold from April 7 to 14 in Indonesia, is geared towards exploring various economic opportunities to strengthen technical cooperation and enhance existing partnerships between both countries.

    “The forum intends to provide a unique opportunity for around 550 people from Indonesia business community, high level government officials and other stakeholders to gather, interact and explore ways to establish concrete economic cooperation and expand business networks.

    “We believe the Indonesian-African forum would provide a platform for Nigerian and other African businesses to showcase what they have to offer to the Indonesian business community thereby improving the probabilities of attracting inward cooperation and investments in terms of foreign direct investments from Indonesia” he said

    On Indonesian firms already operating in Nigeria, Balogun revealed  that the EXIM Bank of Indonesia had pledged to finance Indonesian businesses in Nigeria and encourage others with plans to invest.

    An Executive Director of the company, Mr. Michael Majekodunmi said the government of Indonesia was prepared to grant visa to genuine businessmen who wish to visit Indonesia and explore business opportunities.

    The firm’s ITPC Director, Bagus Wicaksena, noted that the trade volume represented the second largest the Indonesian government traded with the continent.

    The inaugural edition of the forum, he said, is an Indonesian government initiative aimed at promoting and strengthening trade and investment between Indonesia and Africa.

    “The forum will generate new ideas aimed at strengthening bilateral trade with Nigeria. We have experienced a promising trade relationship with Nigeria as it has grown by 10 per cent. West African countries are strategic partners in terms of trade and we want to forge stronger bilateral relationships with countries in the continent,” Wicaksena said.

  • Canon: Nigeria still largely untapped market

    Canon: Nigeria still largely untapped market

    For tech entrepreneurs, Nigeria remains destination of choice for equipment vendors because of her vibrant youthful population and huge market. The Regional Sales Director at Canon Middle East, Somesh Adukia, says in spite of the presence of so many original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the country, it is market still waiting to be explored. He spoke with LUCAS AJANAKU on the sideline of the launch of the firm’s range of printers in Lagos.

    Why is Canon deepening its presence in Nigeria?

    Nigeria is one of the largest African markets in terms of potential and GDP, and we feel it is an untapped territory in terms of its potential and growth. It is also an important market due to largest population allowing it to be a key market for Canon.

    But the country continues to grapple with several challenges, including infrastructure deficit. What is the attraction?

    Yes, every country has its challenges. And in spite of all these challenges you spoke about, Nigeria is an important hub in industrial and production printing segment, and has a thriving film industry – all of which Canon can support through our value added services. Our goal is to extend our services to the largest number of customers possible by being closer to them.

    Why has Canon decided to introduce these printers to the Nigerian market?

    The demand for cost effective office printers has significantly increased in Nigeria for offices where high yield printing is the norm. There has also been a boom in demand for home users who enjoy printing all their best photographs. With the Canon Pixma Series, our customers in Nigeria get to enjoy, efficient cost effective printing.

    What are the features of the Pixma G series printer, and how do they work?

    The G1400 is a single function printer, while the PIXMA G2400 and PIXMA G3400 & G4400 are all-in-one printers offering print, scan and copy functionalities. We are in an age where internet connectivity drives our day-to-day personal and professional lives.  The G series range are Wi-Fi enabled and offer printing without wires from a PC as well as smartphones or tablets, with full compatibility with Canon’s new print app. This Cloud printing let you send documents and photos to print from anywhere in the world, and remotely print from popular services including Instagram, Google Drive, Facebook, Dropbox and Flickr. For truly creative photo printing, the G series range are also compatible with Canon’s Easy-PhotoPrint+ and are accessible from tablets or a web browser, the software accesses your photos and lets you edit them before printing creative projects such as greeting cards or calendars.

    In the case of a malfunction or issue, what service is available to your customers in Nigeria?

    Earlier this year Canon Central and North Africa partnered with three service centers in Nigeria namely Ensure Services, Kontakt and Technology Distribution (TD). These service stations offer total after-sales product repair services in eight locations across Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. The service centres will also support all B2C products including DSC, DSLR, professional video, OPP inkjet- and laser-printers, projectors and calculators.

     Nigerians tend to print high volume documents in fast succession. What is the printing speed and capacity of the Pixma G series printers?

    The printers have been designed to cater for customer’s needs, this is why each printer incorporates a durable FINE print head system for high quality prints at fast speeds, as well as technology that stops air penetrating the ink feeding tubes, ensuring reliability and stability when printing in high volumes. For prints with high levels of detail the 2pl, 4800x1200dpi print engine offers smooth gradations and fine detail, perfect for intricate documents or high-quality photographs. Each model in the range also prints borderless 4 x 6” photos in as little as 60 seconds.

    What innovation differentiates them from their competitors?

    The new printers all come with Canon’s My Image Garden software, which includes a range of applications including Creative Park. An exclusive software created by Canon that helps you print a variety personalised creations including cards, crafts and even high-detail paper arts, ranging from amateur to artisan professional crafters. Also the new compact refillable ink tank models combine an aesthetic design and ease of use. The four high-yield, front facing ink tanks are immediately visible, making it simple and fast to check ink levels, while the uniquely designed ink bottles make topping up a quick and mess-free task.

    The printers will be available at all Canon authorised dealers including, prominent e-commerce sites such as Jumia, Konga and Yudala.

  • Tourism is untapped goldmine

    Tourism is untapped goldmine

    The Director-General, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Folorunsho Folarin-Coker, says the tourism sector can become another goldmine if the structures and facilities in the industry are optimised. In this interview with select business editors in Lagos, he speaks on strategies to rejuvenate the sector and other issues. LUCAS AJANAKU was there.

    What is your assessment of the tourism industry in Nigeria?

    In Nigeria, we have some traditional forms of tourism that have not been invested in; therefore, the returns from them are constantly dwindling. They are also seen as leisure community activities that are not income-generating or taxable. That’s why the business aspect of it needs to be refocused. In Nigeria, we are also lucky, apart from having this cultural heritage- destination tourism, we also have over the years been able to develop new medium of cultural expression that has come to even dominate in the world. If you look at our music- a few days ago I was in Toronto, there was a protest march and they were playing Korede Bello’s ‘Godwin’ and singing to it. I had to come out of the car. It was unbelievable. Our fashion is very strong. Our film is number two in the world. I went to Toronto International Film Festival- it is a business. Film production is a big business globally. The film festival is a business on its own and that is where tourism again needs to look at all these new mediums of cultural expression and start to define them as businesses. The Zuma Film Festival in Abuja needs to be like the largest film festival in Africa since the largest business in Africa resides in Nigeria. We are number two in the world, but we don’t even have the number largest film festival in Africa. Something is seriously wrong in terms of how we define our tourism assets and how we use them for business. If you look at sports, we are a sports-loving nation, particularly football. I challenge you to turn on your TV set on Saturday in Nigeria, you can watch La Liga, you can watch EPL, South African football and all that but you cannot watch Kano Pillars; Iwuanyanwu National play or any local league for that matter. And we have a 20 strong league. Again, if you look at tourism as a business, it will compel us to look at certain things. Why is there so much money in EPL and how many people are watching this EPL in England? How many people are in Europe and are watching La Liga? How many South Africans are there? Why are their leagues so globally strong? Television! People want to watch it on television. Television focuses on them and as television focuses on them, advertising becomes a very significant thing. Television focusing on sports allows advertising to come in; allows the revenues that we need and the sports stories to also grow.

    What is the place of branding in tourism business?

    One of the areas we have problem in Nigeria is: even when we get something right, we don’t know how to sustain it. Even where Chief X makes money, he doesn’t know how to transfer it to the next generation. How many millionaires of my father’s days were able to manage the money to successfully transfer it to the next generation? This has to do with branding. It is about branding and consistency in improving consumption. CocaCola is sugar, water and colouring, we all know it. We can make drums of it. But we buy CocaCola because it is a brand. At a point when CocaCola discovered that people were no longer buying the product the way they were doing before; they started branding it, using people’s names on the bottle of the drink – Lola, Yemi, Kola, etc – to make us buy more, and if you didn’t buy, somebody would buy it for you. Somebody would say, ‘see your CocaCola’. That’s the power of branding. Branding drives consumption. It focuses attention and creates an emotional connection to a product that allows you to consume more of what you know you shouldn’t probably be consuming, but you continue to do it.

    Now, if you look at the logo of NTDC, it looks like a military detachment regiment somewhere, but look at the rest of the world- South Africa, Singapore, Croatia, Bangladesh, Malaysia – you can see how friendly, warm and engaging they are. So, one of the first things I did was to look at the brand NTDC as a master brand and created a sub-brand called TOUR NIGERIA, simply in line with the CocaCola principle that for me to create an emotional connection with our Nigeria, by a Nigerian and for a Nigeria, I needed to create something that was simple and fun.

    Why ‘Tour Nigeria’?

    First of all, the focus of NTDC is on domestic tourism. Domestic tourism is simply the only sustainable form of tourism that you can ever get. It entails using what you have best in your home, locality, region and in your country. It is the only form of tourism that can withstand shock. For instance, when they blew up an aircraft coming out from Egypt, people still go to Egypt. When they shut up a shopping mall and killed people recklessly in Kenya, people still go to Kenya. It is because they have a strong domestic tourism industry that the international tourism can set up. One is a shock absorber, but allows the growth of the international. Domestic tourism, because it is local, strengthens our establishments- our hotels, if we consume more of our hotels, our restaurants, tourism heritage sites, and our tourism events here, you find out that it will become stronger. It is when it is stronger that it also strengthens the institution- the government, the agencies, the taxation that come off it. It is only within that structure that eventually the international bodies will be looking and say this is the ultimate; we want to generate billions of dollars. But if we don’t take it as a business, if we don’t invest in it; if we don’t set the right policies to drive it, we cannot expect to reap the yield that we are looking for, and the rest of the world being able to partake in.

    What is the relationship between a country with youthful population and a successful tourism industry?

    Our population is over 180 million. It is the densest concentration of black people in the world. It is the most populous country in Africa. If you look our demographics, we are also fat in the middle because we have the age bracket 18-35 that makes up the bulk of our population. This group is digitally connected; they are the socially mobile and they are a productive workforce. Add that to whatever infrastructure we have, to Arts and culture as we have it; to entertainment as we have it; we have an opportunity to accelerate the development of tourism because all our needs and assets are already existing. It is not like manufacturing where you have to go and get the machine, the labour and all those things to start to build. It is not like agriculture where you will need to go and get the land, till the land, plant your seed, wait for it to grown and harvest and take to the market.  All we need is already in existence in group of manageable structure for tourism to become a serious income earner for Nigeria. So, after rebranding, we “Tour Nigeria”. “Tour Nigeria” is a very simple brand that we created to focus on our domestic tourism agenda. We also created the acronym called ‘CHIEF’. It is a five-point action plan. C- Stands for corporate governance and regulation; H – for human capital development; I – for Infrastructure development; E- for events and marketing, and F- for finance and investment.

    Now, what I am trying to do in NTDC is to put NTDC through this 5-point action plan. In terms of corporate governance and regulation, we’ve been through first and second reading at the public hearing to try and repeal the old bill which was set up in 1992 and enact a new bill so that we can bring the policies that govern tourism into 2017 and the next 10 years. If we don’t change the regulatory framework or the legal backing, we cannot hope to grow tourism the way we want do it; and some of the things relating to that- there’s tourism levy that will populate a tourism funds, and that is already a tax that is existing; it is just for us to be given the money for tourism.

    In terms of regulation, right now 36 states are setting 36 different standards in terms of hotels, in terms of grading, etc. So, the international community that we want to attract cannot take the grading standard of a hotel in Zamfara and a hotel in Lagos and say this is an internationally acceptable standard. Nations, national agencies set standards and grade hotels that are internationally recognisable not individual states within a federation of state.

    Human capital development – Tourism is driven by a digital medium. Today, most businesses are driven by digital medium. Now, with a large population of digitally-connected individuals; we must embrace technology. If we don’t embrace technology, we cannot hope to, for example, take the message out and potentially reach two million people on Facebook or several millions on Instagram.

    Capital development on appropriate training, not just training like we have been used to, but training in the new mediums and new technologies that help you market with the same prowess as Jumia or Wakanow or Konga.

    Infrastructure development – I’m glad to say that Nigeria has the infrastructure but they need to be developed; especially in the tourism industry, infrastructure is either not in the right hand, not being driven properly or moribund and we need to look at it holistically.

    What do we have and as a business how can we use this better? How can we use the Tafawa Balewa Square (IBS) better? How can we use National Theatre, Abuja Stadium, National Stadium in Lagos; Football stadium in Akwa Ibom – how  can we use all these better? What do we need to put around Abuja stadium to make it work- a hotel? Do we allow all league matches to be played free of charge there? What will happen if we do that? Will the population of the North Central of Nigeria collapse temporarily into Abuja for certain things, thereby countering the population imbalance we have between the Southwest, the North central to the axis of the Northeast?

    Events and marketing – we need to look at what events we have. At NTDC, we have created a January to December calendar of events that allows people to plan. If you look at the football league in England- you know that Manchester United is going to play with Chelsea on June 4 next year at Chelsea’s ground. It is fixed. It allows hotels, transporters to plan, and it is in that planning that you get the acceleration of wealth creation. Again, it is a business. Then we will have one platform anchoring other events.

    Again in marketing, the promotion has to be digital.Today, nobody leaves home without their phones. So, it is the medium we reach maximum number of people. If you look at your Whattsapp messages, the stories we all share among ourselves on a daily or weekly basis – it tells you what people are interested in. It is either about fashion, food, religion, music, film or politics. If you look at your last 20 messages you will see that they fall into the above mentioned categories. That tells you that these are the Medium of expression through which people are consuming whatever information today.

    What are some of your projections in the short and long terms?

    We have mapped out some of the things we are doing at NTDC in the short to medium and long terms. In terms of corporate governance, we are continuously interacting with stakeholders in the tourism industry. Change is here and tourism is not going to be excluded from that agenda. Whether we like it or not, certain things must change for us to move forward. We can grow money or we can earn money. If we treat tourism like a leisure activity we will continue to earn money. If we treat tourism as a business we grow money. If we invest in infrastructure specific to tourism that grows tourism, we will reap multiple benefits from it.

    Whether government is APC or any other; whether I am the DG NTDC or any other person else, it continues to flow. We are also using the digital platforms – social media, the internet, to make the presence of NTDC known. We have ‘Tour Nigeria’, which is the hash tag and is on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, We have our website – tournigeria.org.ng where we are hoping to put a lot of positive images about our country to reverse the negative conversations about Nigeria. There have been lots of challenges simply because people would always want to resist change. Again, some people have not just taken the time to understand the law. One of the things that people are agitating the most about is about the registration and regulation and grading of hotels. In any country in the world where tourism is treated as a business and the values they get from it are real, there’s an external body responsible for it, but because of the Supreme Court’s ruling, states have been granted the power to so do, but those states will never get international recognition for it because they recognise countries, they don’t recognise the components of countries.

    The President’s order on ease of doing business in Nigeria has benefitted us in being able to get visas and access to some other things. It is not perfect yet, but it has started to yield good fruit; it will continue to get better. We are hoping that NTDC will be the steering agency for all tourism-related activities. We must take tourism seriously as a business, if we treat it otherwise, we cannot get the revenues we are hoping to get from it.

    What specific practices or perceptions do you believe may positively impact the tourism industry in the country?

    I do not believe in world tourism market just yet, I believe in a Nigerian domestic-focused tourism market. Let me be clear on this: I don’t see the need to go and market what (products) I know that are not as strong as I want them. I don’t believe in going to London to say, I want to do London travel market to go and market products that are not as strong as I want them to be. I will like to focus inward and strengthen those products here first, then maybe in a year or two you can take them to the London travel market. There are some market functions, they call travel market in Nigeria today – the individuals that pushed us to be promoting Nigeria’s cultural heritage are being sponsored by foreign airlines, foreign hotels and all that they are promoting is sale of foreign holidays to Nigerian citizens. I don’t stand behind such misconception. People are misled to believe that this is promoting the Nigerian culture when foreign airlines, foreign hotels come into a Nigerian hotel to put together a programme to show Nigerians the beauty of South Africa or Dubai or Rwanda; it is not promoting Nigeria, it is promoting African culture but not Nigerian culture. My business is not to promote the culture of any other country apart from that of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    Looking at the state of tourism industry in the country, do you have some recommendations?

    We recommend that tourism be included in the curriculum of educational institutions. If people don’t start to learn it from an early age that this thing exists and that if you treat it like a business you can earn money, they may not show interest in it. If you look at how many people that take Chemical Engineering; Mechanical Engineering, Architecture and look at what they feed into, we have got to look at other side of our inflow of human capital which is developing tourism as a curriculum from schools to university. We are not just saying go and start it now, but let’s look at how we can inject it into the existing curriculum in schools. Most of the people you find in the tourism industry did not really study tourism; they studied something else; but tourism became what they can do or something they just like to do. It is good to get core professionals within the industry.

    The issue of security is of a serious concern if tourism must thrive in any country. With the rate of kidnapping, and other social crimes in society, don’t you think such may negatively impact the business aspect of tourism?

    I disagree with you. Let me tell you why. Is Nigeria the murder capital of the world? No. Is Nigeria the rape or kidnapping capital of the world? No. I don’t want to name those countries. Every country has security issue. America, Britain, France all have security issue. Look at the attacks that have happened in Britain this year, still people still go there. I am not saying that we don’t have some of these issues, but they are not issues that should stop people from coming here. You and I live here. The security situation has improved tremendously over a year and half now. There are still some new things that are popping up; did we know that terrorists could turn an aircraft into a weapon against people? Did we know that a terrorist could turn a car into a weapon against people? Would people stop going to France, for instance, because a terrorist drove a truck over people on the sidewalk? They kidnap in France; they kidnap in England. But you know what, those countries have very, very sophisticated system of not reporting so much of the negative about them, unless it is something they cannot cover. Do you know how many people that are killed in those countries in a day? I understand the security concern, but they are not things that will stop people from coming to Nigeria. Look, some of these crimes are reactions to poverty; if we grow our domestic industry, some of these things would stop. If a man can wake up every morning to a place he can earn a decent day’s work and get a decent wage for it, robbery is not the first option for our people. Security concerns should not stop the development of our tourism.

    How much does tourism generate for the country at the moment?

    If over the next three years tourism moves from about 1.4 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) to close to 10 per cent, I think we would have got ourselves on a remarkable track. But certain things need to be done. There is a need to invest in our tourism assets. There’s need for a change in our policy; there’s the need to support the tourism function to rearrange things in the way it can generate income. Also, we need to capture data; we need to open the tourism satellite account that allows us to count- how many foreigners are coming into the country; where are they staying, what are doing, how much are we making from them? If you don’t count that, it will be very difficult for us to know what exactly our revenue is.

    How would you ensure that the programmes you are putting in place now would continue after your exit from the seat, given that one of the major problems of Nigeria is lack of sustainability?

    You see, this is the year of sustainable tourism globally. It is the type of tourism you grow internally, domestically. Now, what are the hallmarks? Support your own domestic tourism industry; pay a fair price for your domestic products; engage with your domestic stakeholders, create advantages for your domestic stakeholders against foreign attractions. Let me give you an instance. You know what Ghana did? Ghana gives a tax holiday at the weekend for tourism activities. So, the cheapest place now for you to have a conference is Ghana. You know what that means?

    Nigeria was recently recognised on the global tourism scene; may we have your comment on that beautiful development? `

    I am so happy that my boss, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, minister of Information and Culture, has been appointed the Vice President of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation. It is a reflection of the commitment and tenacity of the man. To have attained this laudable position in tourism, I believe this supports the functions of NTDC immensely. And I believe that with his support, tourism as a business is here to stay.

  • ‘Nigeria’s underground space untapped’

    ‘Nigeria’s underground space untapped’

    One aspect of construction that has remained largely untapped in the country is tunnelling. This is the art of creating useful and effective space below ground level. Mr. Abidemi Agwor is the national chairman, Tunnelling Association of Nigeria. He is also the first and only Nigerian representative at the world body of tunnelling engineers. Agwor is championing a fresh awareness of this aspect of construction, especially in infrastructural development. For him, this will help build better and efficient cities. In this interview, he explains the concept and its benefit to the nation. MUYIWA LUCAS was there.

    Tunnelling does not seem to be very popular in this country. Why?

    Although it is not alien to us, it is, however, an approach that is not readily part of our infrastructural conceptualisation. To put it simply, tunnelling is the act of creating useful and effective space below ground level. This cuts across several sectors, covering a wide spectrum from the seemingly small applications to the more sophisticated applications like water and sanitary waste management, telecommunications and power distribution, vehicular and pedestrian transportation, oil and gas product transportation, mining and mineral exploration, agricultural and environmental applications and several other unorthodox applications. These can be done through conventional and mechanised means, the latter being the most popular.

    However, delivering an underground infrastructure requires extensive planning and preparation. Depending on the type of project and structure, an extensive ground investigation would be required as that will duly inform the construction method as well as produce a geotechnical baseline report for construction. This helps to determine if we are working in a soft or hard ground, cohesive or non-cohesive as well as several other technical parameters that aid the decision of procuring the best suited tunnelling equipment as well as proposing a sustainable design and realistic programme. The baseline report will also infer if ground preparatory works will be required. We can’t fully exhaust all the requirements in delivering an underground infrastructure, but I know that this technology can be applied appropriately and effectively in Nigeria.

    Why are you championing the campaign in Nigeria and what landmark projects have you been involved to support this cause?

    The idea of developing the tunnelling industry in Nigeria was first conceived shortly after I arrived in the United Kingdom on scholarship from the Rivers State Government in 2008. I discovered my passion for tunnelling and the development of underground structures. I was part of the team that developed the Crossrail tunnels UK, which was at the time the biggest infrastructural development in Europe worth £16 billion. I am currently part of the tunnelling team working on a key part of the Hinkley Point Nuclear Power Project worth £24 billion.

    Over the years I have had the opportunity to work with the best in the industry and so my network was built from there. I am a member of the British Tunnelling Society (BTS).  In September 2015 I approached the Chairman of the BTS to advice on how to go about setting up a similar organisation in Nigeria since they had just helped set up the Tunnelling Association in Saudi Arabia; and that was where it really all started from. We have since gone on to incorporate the Tunnelling Association Nigeria (TAN), registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria as the Association of Tunnelling Operators Nigeria in June 2016.  Presently, I am the Chairman of the Executive committee.

    We have also gotten in touch with the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA) which has a consultative status with the United Nations. The body has now adopted Nigeria as a member nation through an exclusive endorsement of TAN. In essence Nigeria now has a seat at the World Tunnelling Congress held yearly.

    What responses have you been getting from the Nigeria Society of Engineers and the government in this tunnelling crusade?

    It has been challenging but fulfilling to say the least. The responses have been mixed and that is the reason we are deliberate in our approach. We have had key members of the Board of Trustees of the Tunneling Association Nigeria champion and promote the idea within their respective professional affiliations and the Nigerian Society of Engineers is one of the bodies currently in partnership with TAN. They have even set up a Tunneling Engineering Study Group to work with TAN. We are also making progress in setting up same partnership with other relevant bodies like the Nigerian Institute of Architects, Nigerian Institute of Surveyors as well as Nigerian Institute of Town Planners. We have had positive responses from the Federal Ministry of Power, Lands and Housing; some state governments and some educational institutions like the University of Lagos and the River State University of Science and Technology. So the response in the country has been encouraging, but there is still a long way to go.

    Considering the prevailing economic climate, do you think Nigeria can afford investment in tunnelling infrastructure?

    I believe that the current economic challenges can serve as an opportunity to invest. The lack of requisite infrastructure has exacerbated the impact of the economic challenges, though I believe that bridging our infrastructural gap is now government’s primary objective. Developing a tunnel or an underground space enables us maximise the use of a square foot of space thereby adding more value depending on its application- be it utilities or transportation, it can positively affect our lifestyle.  A cost-benefit analysis of most of these scenarios will tell you that the value of the benefits that these infrastructures bring over their life span outweighs their delivery cost. Planning and delivering a major underground project will typically take ten years if everything works according to schedule; and probably half that time for minor projects. We can invest now in the early phases of delivering innovative and sustainable projects that will in future help our rapidly growing cities.

    Aside from government, can corporate bodies and private developers invest in tunnelling and allied underground infrastructure and services?

    Tunnels and underground structures can be privately developed and one area that can be given keen consideration is the development of underground parking for residential accommodation. It should come naturally that we would consider it as part of a design brief. I would expect that a private developer would be restricted to the scale and scope of structure that can be developed granted by the appropriate authorities.

    How much of expertise or technology is available in the country to make this happen?

    Although expertise and technology in developing underground infrastructure is still in very high demand globally, Nigeria currently cannot boast of a handful of talents and expertise in this sector. However, I believe we have existing skills that can be easily developed to suit some of the requirements of developing underground infrastructure. Developing our local capabilities is one main reason the Tunnelling Association Nigeria was established. It was set up to promote the use of our underground space through awareness creation, sensitization, knowledge sharing, advocacy and several other means.

    The Tunnelling Association has put together a 10-year plan that would enable us locally engage at least 50 percent of the delivery of major tunnelling and underground activities. So, realistically my advocacy is for us to prepare for the mid-term to long-term future trends in the tunnelling and underground industries, which has indicated that sub-Saharan Africa will inevitably experience its own fair share of the global tunnelling and underground space market boom.

    What programmes are in place by the Tunnelling Association of Nigeria to integrate this new thinking into the management of the underground space in Nigeria?

    Benefitting from all that the association has put in place to develop capacity starts from being a registered member of the association. We have employed an open ended policy on the membership of the association which is open to all potential stakeholders in the development of our underground infrastructure including, civil engineers, mechanical and electrical engineers, geotechnical engineers, mining engineers, geologist, surveyors, GIS engineers, architects, urban planners and developers, financiers, insurers, policy makers, legal practitioners and project finance specialists.

    As part of our developmental programmes, we have scheduled annual conferences and workshops, we are scheduled to host what is the first International Tunnelling and Underground Space Conference in Nigeria next month in Lagos; it is tagged: “Developing the Tunnelling and Underground Space Industry in Nigeria”. We are also scheduling courses endorsed by the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association. We have a team that champions this campaign in university institutions as well as colleges. As part of the benefits of being a member nation of the World Tunnelling Congress we have exchange programmes that would enable students and professionals gain foreign practical experience of how tunnels are built. TAN in partnership with other member nations, has scheduled tours to specific project sites to expose our members to current global trends in the industry. Our partnership with other key organisations will also help to propagate the idea.

  • ‘Why $200b oil, gas markets remain untapped’

    ‘Why $200b oil, gas markets remain untapped’

    An estimated $200 billion oil, gas and power markets are yet to be tapped in Nigeria and other countries in West Africa due to problems, such as poor financing and lack of capacity building, the Managing Director, Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics base (LADOL), Dr. Amy Jadesinmi has said.

    She said lack of funds and manpower have crippled activities in the energy and allied sectors in West Africa, urging stakeholders to proffer solutions to the problem.

    Jadesimi in her presentation at the Global Green Growth Forum (3GF) in Copenhagen, Denmark, a copy of which was obtained by The Nation, said happenings in the energy services industry are having spiral effects on other sectors in the region.

    She said once investors in the oil and gas sectors are able to provide enough capital and manpower, they would find it easier to service the $200 billion market in West Africa.

    Jadesimi said: “International banks and investors should collaborate if they really want to tap into the investment opportunities in the region. When this happens, the issue of under-utilisation of potentials in the oil and gas and power sector would be a thing of the past.

    “New businesses are going to be generated in the power, oil and gas sector.  Regarded as areas that are critical to the growth of any economy globally, oil, gas and power industries would not only record growth, but would help in moving any economy forward.”

    LADOL, she noted, has keyed into the sustainable development goals (SDGs) mantra by planning to provide over 50,000 jobs through its investment in oil and gas sector.

    She said LADOL has built a fabrication yard that would help in providing services for the Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels and other projects in its base, adding that the yard has assisted in training people for the oil sector.

    She advised owners of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and other companies in high growth markets to play their part by attracting investments into the region.

    According to her, companies need to empower people in the communities, where they are operating, if they really want to provide  necessary changes.

  • ‘Potential of poultry industry untapped’

    ‘Potential of poultry industry untapped’

    A member representing Illorin East/South Federal Constituency in the green chambers, Dr Abubakar Amuda-Kannike  has  called  for a constructive approach  towards  addressing challenges facing the  poultry industry to  save  jobs  and  promote  economic  growth.

    Amuda-Kannike , a former  Kwara  state Commissioner for Works and Transport said the poultry industry is the largest segment of the agricultural sector, contributing more to the nation’s gross domestic product and   providing  employment for many  Nigerians  throughout its value chain and related industries.

    Addressing the National Poultry Show in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Amuda-Kannike said the industry supports many businesses and provides a strong platform for rural development, as well as the government’s zero-hunger goals, as it is the main supplier of a protein diet.

    The inability of the  industry to meet growing national demand, he noted, reflected the need for more investment to improve efficiencies and competitively.

    According to him, the value chain is filled with small scale players  and a few large companies.

    This, he  explained is not  helping the  industry  to  explore  the  benefits associated with the economies of large-scale production, as well as integrated supply chains that reduce production costs, ensure high throughput levels and diversify products to improve risk management.

    Though the number of broilers slaughtered and poultry meat produced have increased in recent years, he  noted  that  Nigeria  still does not produce sufficient quantities to satisfy demand, with the shortfall addressed through imports. Poultry imports, particularly chicken, have posed a major problem for the domestic industry, especially in recent years and particularly for smaller producers.

    Technically, he said broiler growers are efficient compared with international producers. But when feed costs are introduced into the equation, he said the growers are generally found to be less competitive. As a result, within a global context, he said the economic efficiency of local producers does not compare as well as their technical efficiency, largely due to higher production costs.

    To this end, he said the industry is struggling to remain competitive.

    According to him, the industry faces several significant challenges that have hindered its competitiveness and growth potential. The principal ones pertain to rising feed costs, rising electricity tariffs and access to reliable supply, access to finance and markets exchange rate fluctuations and, among others.

    Considering its pivotal role in the economy, particularly employment and food security, he said the industry’s long-term sustainability needs to be prioritised.

    He said it is vital to improve the competitiveness of various segments of the value chain, especially those aimed at lowering feed costs.

    Strong emphasis, he noted, must also be placed on industry transformation to enable producers and processors attain economies of scale, gain market access and achieve sustainable competitiveness.

  • ‘Nigeria’s potential remains untapped’

    ‘Nigeria’s potential remains untapped’

    Ambassador Ayoola Olukanni, a career diplomat of over three decades experience has served in various missions abroad including Kenya, Republic of Seychelles, Australia New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. In this interview with Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf he shares reminiscences of his career thus far.

    To say that Ambassador Ayoola Olukanni has seen it all is clearly an understatement. The career diplomat of over three decades experience has traversed different continents across the globe and thankful for the many choices life bestowed on him.

    His career portraiture is as rich as it is varied. He once served as Deputy Permanent Representative/Ag Permanent Representative of Nigeria to United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) & United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN HABITAT) and later, Deputy Head of Mission/Acting High Commissioner to Kenya and Republic of Seychelles.

    He was also the spokesperson of the Nigerian Foreign Ministry between March 2007 and January 2010, and he moved to Vienna-Austria as Minister/Charge D’Affaires. He was promoted to Ambassador in 2011 and then deployed as Nigeria’s Ambassador in Canberra, Australia, with concurrent accreditation to New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands.

    From being a spokesperson, he proceeded to Vienna, Austria as Minister/Charge D’affairs.

    In 2011, an ambassador, he was deployed to Canberra, Australia. It was in Australia he attained the age of 60, and therefore retired from service.

    Going back memory lane, the Ilesha-born diplomat shared wonderful memories of growing up through adult life and then active service both at home and foreign missions abroad.

    “Diplomacy is the best of the services; it is the best job. You cannot be rich as a diplomat but you are educated and cosmopolitan,” he said with obvious pride.

    But he was however quick to admit that providence had a hand in his career choice.

    “My father had a role to play in my career choice,” he began.

    As he prepared to go for tertiary education, his father, he recalled, wanted him to be a doctor, but Olukanni wanted to be pilot.

    He went on to study political science in Ife from 1975-1979, where due to his love for the arts, he became editor of the campus gossip magazine: The Cobra. He was also a part of a drama group on campus.

    While in school he chose to be on the political left as the university he attended was vibrant with radical ideas. According to him, it was a glorious period of education in Nigeria where companies and government conducted and completed recruitment exercises right in the campuses.

    He applied to be External Affairs Officer through the Federal Civil Service Commission and was later posted to serve in Radio Plateau where he got a chance to produce his own programme –Corpers’ Corner.

    After NYSC, he returned to Lagos, became a stringer for the NTA while he tried to get a job with broadcasting houses, but because they only wanted newscasters, while he wanted to produce his own programmes, he continued stringing.

    “God has a way of handling our affairs as people since we are in his hands. So I was on my way for rehearsals at NTA for For Better, for Worse soap, and decided to collect my letter on the way at Republic Building, Marina in Lagos. On July 29, 1980 I signed for my letter and took up a new career.”

    He however loved acting so much he continued to act on TV even after he was admitted into diplomacy, until a senior Ambassador chided him over his continued appearance on TV as an actor.

    His first stint as a diplomat led him to Brussels, Belgium in 1982 as attaché.

    Upon his return in 1983, he went on to the University of Lagos to do a Postgraduate Diploma in International law. After that he went on to the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the UN from 1986-1989 which is a very rare privilege for any diplomat. He worked on several committees including CEDAW, anti-Apartheid committee, among others.

    His period at the UN, he recollected was as one of the best ever because he was being polished like a precious rough stone through exposure to all issues including gender and development, human rights, disarmament, international law, and others.

    That same period was when issues on the environment began to take centre stage, and he became interested so much that when he returned to Nigeria in 1989, he went back to Unilag to do a Masters in International Law and Diplomacy with focus on International Environmental Law. Returning to the classroom after New York was like examining what he had done at the UN.

    While in New York, he was part of the committee that started the preparation for Rio Summit.

    “I was sent to Israel after my Masters –very exciting. Then Ambassador Olisa Emeka was Foreign Minister. These were people who brought us up and taught us this job. As Councillor (Political, Culture and Information) I had to also follow up the Oslo Peace Accord to try and resolve the age-old Israeli-Palestinian crisis, and the Middle-East peace process, after the Gulf war of 1991,” he recalled.

    He also had stint at the bilateral air services desk, and later became the Pilgrims Liaison Officer for Christians Pilgrims from Nigeria, but he believes that state should not be so closely involved in religion, arguing that it is a personal issue and funds expended on religious activities by the government would be better channelled towards development.

    “The equipment some of these companies use are not correct equipments. We had an incident where someone got a contract to airlift pilgrims in a Boeing 747, it came into Israel, and it could not continue. The Israeli authorities would not let it fly back because they called it a flying coffin. They said, ‘How can you put your people in this?’

    “One time I went to the authorities to get landing permit for an aircraft bringing Nigerian pilgrims, they looked at the papers and saw the insurance papers were not okay, the insurance would expire shortly after it lands. They said, ‘How can you fly your people this way?’ I told them that by God’s grace, nothing would happen. Then, they replied, “Look, listen; don’t forget we started the business of God. These are the rules, and you must keep it.”

    By far, Olukanni says one of the memories which linger in his mind is Nigeria’s participation at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (CHOGM) held in Perth, Australia, in November 2011.

    “During the Commonwealth Business Forum which is a very important part of the CHOGHOM, the Nigerian delegation was the largest and we made our presence felt and the Australians were very happy with it and they responded in terms of the number of visits and collaboration at all levels.”

    On what felt like representing the country in the global stage, he said, it was a rare privilege.

    Nigeria, he said, remains the darling of the world.

    As a matter of fact, he says Nigerians wherever they are continue to make their impacts felt.

    “You have Nigerians all the world doing great exploits. You find medical doctors, nurses, lawyers etc. I can give example in New South Wales of directors in the office of the auditor general. Nigerian medical doctors are all over the place and ironically, and they are very key and very important. A lot of them are holding their own structures, especially the ones in the rural areas because if you come into Australia as a skilled medical practitioner, the first place they will send you to is the rural area. This is because generally their people don’t want to go to rural areas. In the rural areas, Nigerians are the ones holding most of these places.”

    Pressed further, he shared fresh anecdotes. “Let me give the example of my experience. At a reception, I came across some people, Australians who run chains of medical clinics and wanted to offer medical care and they got to know that I am the Nigerian High Commissioner. They introduced themselves and said that they have about 10 Nigerian doctors in their establishment, and they said: can you please help us because we want more Nigerian doctors? And I asked, why do you want more Nigerian doctors? And they responded saying, because the Nigerian doctors have the best bedside manners. I am very proud that my nationals have been described in those glowing terms. There are about 10,000 Nigerians in Australia, but some of them have also become Australians.

    “I’m talking about the community generally, and ironically, they not only come from Nigeria. The Nigerian professionals, engineers and others come from different parts of the world and I’m also happy to say that they are also holding their own as far as the mining industry is concerned, helping to maintain those sophisticated equipments. There are mining engineers and also some who are in the field of investments.”

    Though he says he deigns to admit that Nigeria remains a giant in clay feet but for a man who is buoyed by a patriotic fervor, he is very optimistic that with focused determination Nigeria can indeed rise from its ashes to reclaim its place in the comity of nation.

    “The country has such huge potential. All that is required is for us all to have a unity of purpose and together we can make the country great again. We have the resources, whether human and material. The Nigerian spirit is resilient, bold and courageous. With focus determination on our part, it is just a matter of time before we take our rightful place in the comity of nation.”

  • ‘Why tourism sector is untapped’

    Despite the abundance of tourist centres in the six geo-political zones of the country, the nation’s huge tourism potential has remained untapped, largely because of lack of basic infrastructure for bringing them to acceptable international standards.

    That was the position of some tourism experts, who spoke on the sideline of  this year’s symposium/luncheon tagged: “The Needs of the Tourism Industry in Nigeria”.

    The symposium/luncheon was organised by the Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).

    At the event, a tourism expert, who is also a director at the Transcorp Hotels and Tourism Services Limited, Ms. Okaima Ohizua,  noted that there was the need for competitive infrastructure to attract tourists. She urged the government on proper documentation of preferred tourism destinations and ensure effective regulation.

    On what needed to be done to attract investment into the sector, she said the government should advertise what Nigerian tourists sites offer, their location, safety and ease of movement for tourists, from one point to the other.

    She harped on the need  to have a  functional transportation system, graded hotels to ensure standards  in terms of services and quality of food to match international standards.

    Mrs. Ohizua also canvassed the need for connectivity from one part of the country to the other by building competitive infrastructure and adequate health facilities.

    According to her,  there must be a deliberate policy to drive the sector  and make it  an international  hub the same way the United Arab Emirate (UAE) use Dubai as a play ground  and Abu Dhabi the cultural centre.

    To another member and the Director-General of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Muda Yusuf, the tourism industry has the potential to mitigate the problem of rising youth unemployment in the country if well positioned.

    “We call on the government to pay attention to the supporting services sectors, such as aviation, transport, and modern technology that powers electronic transactions, and security in our attempt to promote tourism in Nigeria. If we must promote tourism in Nigeria, these sectors must be fixed,” he said.

    Similarly, the Director-General of Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Dr. Sally Mbanefo, said tourism can help Nigeria achieve her dream of reversing her age-long over-dependence on oil for poverty alleviation and job creation.

    She appealed to the private sector to adopt tourist sites and develop them as part of their contributions to the development of domestic tourism in Nigeria.

    “NTDC and government are aware that developing the local tourism industry for domestic consumption will not be an easy task, as it is no longer a secret that more and more Nigerians that can afford it travel abroad every day. Government can no longer fold its arms and continue to watch daily capital flight from our over 4,279 hotels and numerous restaurants,” Dr. Mbanefo said.

    She disclosed that the corporation was coming up with a recommendation to the government on how domestic tourism could be improved. She also called for the implementation of the National Tourism Policy to ensure the development of a sustainable tourism by capitalising on heritage diversity as the basis for promoting domestic and international tourism.

    The NTDC boss also canvassed the review of the Land Use Act to enable private sector access land for development of tourist sites, and resolve multiple taxation for tourism operators.

    The establishment of a tourism development fund, tourism visa on arrival, and tourism departure levy, she said, would encourage domestic tourism.

  • Worry over Cross River’s untapped goldmines

    Worry over Cross River’s untapped goldmines

    Cross River State is endowed with so many solid minerals scattered across its 18 local government areas. But, no thanks to the law, little is being tapped, writes NICHOLAS KALU

    It is the proverbial land flowing with milk and honey. At the last count, there are 28 solid minerals in parts of the state. But, unfortunately, Cross River has not felt the impact of these minerals on its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

    The minerals include gold, uranium, iron ore, tin ore, manganese, titanium, limestone, salt, coal, muscovite, kaoline, crude oil, lead zinc and feldspar.

    Others are quartz, barite, diamond, graphite, pyrite, talc schist, rutile, tourmaline, amethyst, spring water, granite, bentonite, clay and iron ore (hermatite).

    Of all of these, the only ones exploited are limestone, which is found in Akampka, Odukpnai, Ikom, Obubra, Ogoja and Biase; granite found in Akamkpa, Boki, Obudu, Obubra, Yala and Obanliku; barite found in Yala, Biase, Ikom, Obubra, Yakurr and Obanliku; and sand/gravel, which is all over the state.

    Mining of limestone and granite is concentrated in Akamkpa. Bsarite, which is seasonal depending on the rains, is mainly exploited in Obubra.

    At the moment, there is only one limestone company, the United Cement Company of Nigeria (UNICEM) in Mfamosing community in Akamkpa which mines the limestone for cement which it sells to customers mainly in the south-south and south east regions of the country.

    Also there are 41 granite companies with quarries, especially in Akamkpa, and 22 sand/gravel mining associations.

    Information for barite miners could not be ascertained as they just come and go whenever the season favours them.

    It was gathered that except for UNICEM, the operations of these other miners are not in the interest of the host communities and the state government.

    Governor Liyel Imoke, in an interaction with reporters, said: “If you see what is happening in Akamkpa at the quarry site. You need to go there and see the ecological havoc that quarrying is causing and what is the benefit of quarrying to the people? Nothing. We don’t know what the exercise is causing. That is a major issue, but you know quarries, when they finish quarrying, they just move to the next site, create valleys, create environmental disaster areas, pollution. Nothing is done. When I write and say address this problem, the Federal Ministry will say it is on the exclusive list, that I have no business addressing environmental problems.

    “We have barite, but we have no capacity as a state because the power does not belong to us to even determine the quantity. So, when I listen to people say there is so much barite in Cross River State, I just say, nobody has determined the reserves and private sector will not come unless they know the reserves. And whose responsibility is it to determine those reserves? The Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals which is the owner since it is on the exclusive list. So, you find that there can hardly be serious investment in solid minerals in Nigeria, not just in Cross River State.

    “You have countries in East Africa making a fortune from tin and copper. For us as a state we have always insisted that solid minerals be taken of the exclusive list. The reason I argue this is that they are in every state. There is no state in Nigeria that doesn’t have one solid mineral or the other. So, if we are given the opportunity to determine the reserves and determine the quantities and to invite private sector to make those investments, then we can see another sector of the economy develop. But, until that happens, as far as solid minerals remains in the exclusive list and we are a major oil producing country, we will focus on oil production to their detriment. For us as a state, we have been canvassing a strong argument for solid minerals to be taken off the exclusive list.

    “States that exploit solid minerals it can now pay royalties to the Federal Government. That way there will be a veritable source for employment for our people. There will be income and revenue for the people and state from the investors coming in to exploit. Today, anybody that goes to mine limestone does not even pass through any office in Cross River State, not even the Ministry of Lands. They just have to get to Abuja and get a licence. We don’t know what the quarry companies pay to the Ministry of Solid Minerals, we don’t know what they pay to the Federal Government. Anybody exploiting all kinds of minerals and have gotten an approval from Abuja, while we suffer the environmental degradation, and every other degradation that goes with it, we carry it.

    “Some people have always asked why I say the Federal Government should take crude oil and leave solid minerals. And I say crude oil is in only eight or nine states of the federation, whereas solid minerals are available in all the 36 states. So, you can’t treat the two the same and if you treated the two the same, then there will be no Ministry of Solid Minerals. We would just have the Ministry Petroleum and Solid Minerals as one. But because we recognise the difference, we have different ministries. It means there is something different about solid minerals from crude. So, to my mind, it is something that can bring rapid growth and development if we can take it off the exclusive list. It will really create opportunities for us and our people across the country. The economies of the place where you have the solid minerals will  just blossom but I have never understood the argument as to why it should be on the exclusive list.”

    A representative of UNICEM said, although they have a licence from the Federal Government, it still has to work with the realities of the environment they find themselves.

    He said: “We have had a cordial relationship with our communities. For any areas we want to start exploration, the ministry of lands and housing go in there do assessment and we pay the appropriate compensations before we even go in there for our activities.

    “Besides the fact that we get licences from the Federal Government, for every activity we carry out there is what we call Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which we do and is approved by the federal and state ministries of environment and then after that a review bring all stakeholders together to see impact of what we are going to do and address them. It becomes a basis for monitoring for ministries from time. So, if you are not following the recommendations given to you then you are violating. We don’t want to pose a threat through our actions to the communities or animals within that environment.”

    Due to how lucrative business is, the cement company, which is Nigeria’s third largest cement manufacturer, is investing N84 billion in an additional 2.5million metric tons cement line to double its capacity to 5 million metric tons.

    Its Managing Director, Mr Olivier Lenoir,  said work on the project has started and it is expected to be completed in 2016.

    Most of the granite quarrying companies visited  would not volunteer any information about their operations, but it was learnt they are doing well for themselves. The granite quarrying companies, it was learnt,  have a strong market base in the Southsouth and Southeast .

    Barite miners, though inconsistent, sell mostly to oil companies.

    Director of Operations in the Department of Mineral Resources in Cross River State, Dr Gabe Akpeke, said although most of these companies have licences to operate in the state legally.

    “Mining has been going on in this state for as long as I can remember. As it is, we cannot even question any of them. They say mining is on the exclusive list. It is unfair that somebody is in Abuja giving a licence all the way to this place and harvest and go and even the governor of the state has no hands there.

    “There was a case that came from the forestry commission complaining that quarries are inside the Forest reserves, not only devastating the trees, but also scaring endangered species. Some of them are too close to houses because when they blast it is so strong and some buildings you see them cracking.

    “Take, for instance, the way they mine barite in Nyametit in Obubra. They use pick and shovel method. When they dig to about 10 metres deep, they abandon it and that mineral is wasted forever.

    “We have cases of effluent discharges and pollutions. Some of them are abandoned mines and they create situations that make it dangerous to both the humans, plants and animals.”

    At Nyamoynong in Obubra, residents complained about the activities of the company that mine barite in the area.

    They told this reporter that the excavations, which are mostly abandoned, pose challenges to them and their livestock.

    A resident of the community, Richard Owan, said: “when they dig hold like this and abandon them, you realise that when it gets filled up with water, most of our animals and even unsuspecting persons come to get the water for various use, not know the water has been contaminated by the minerals they were digging for and other chemicals too.”