FG grants Ondo licence for bitumen exploration

The federal government on Tuesday announced the award of a licence to the Ondo state government for bitumen exploration.

Kayode Fayemi, minister of mines and steels development, disclosed this at the first Ondo state investment forum which held at the international event center, (DOME), Akure, on Tuesday.

He said the licence was granted to the state as part of the efforts of the federal government to diversify the economy and boost the country’s foreign exchange.

Represented by Mohammed Amate, director of mining Licence in the ministry, Fayemi said the bitumen reserve in Ondo can serve the whole of Africa.

“Nigeria currently imports over 600,000 tons of asphalt per annum and the nation spends billions of naira on importation of asphalt every year,” he said.

“The naira is weak now because of much demand for dollar and less demand for naira and the poor export policy in the country.

“With bitumen being produced in Ondo state, federal government will ensure that none of its road contractors imports asphalt and I am sure that many state governments will prefer to buy from Ondo state because it will definitely be cheaper here than imports from outside the country.”

Responding, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, governor of the state, thanked the federal government for finding his state worthy for partnership.

The forum held in conjunction with the Presidential Economic Diversification Initiative (PEDI) also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the state government and WEMS Agro Ltd for the planting of rice in over 5,000 hectares of land at Akotogbo in Irele Local government area of the state.

Speaking on the numerous investment opportunities in his state, Akeredolu said: “Our coastline which is about 120km, is one of the longest in Africa and is home to various fish species like sole snapper, croaker, barracuda, big eye grunter, catfish etc. This is an unchartered territory to be explored as part of this administration’s drive towards economy diversification.

“Let me announce to this gathering that Ondo state had been granted two Free Trade Zone (FTZ) licenses which are Olokola (being oil and gas FTZ in partnership with Ogun state government) and Ondo state Industrial City (as a non-oil and gas FTZ). They are both coastal FTZ’s with the Atlantic Ocean bordering the southern flank.

“In addition to Oil and Gas, Ondo state boasts of possessing one of the largest reserves of Bitumen and Tar Sands in the world; about 42 billion barrels. Ondo state is also endowed with large deposits of various solid minerals including Limestone, Coal, Granite, Kaolin, Silica Sand amongst other minerals.

“While attention over the years has been on oil and gas; this government is willing and ready to exploit its Bitumen reserves in a sustainable way particularly in the area of providing asphalt for road development. It is estimated that over 90% of the minerals in Ondo state are unexploited and unutilised.

“Ondo state as one of the nine oil and gas producing states has abundant oil and gas reserves that remain undeveloped, even though we produce about 12 % of the daily oil production in the country.

“However, gone are those days that any government will be reliant on oil and gas alone. I am happy to inform you that in Ondo state, we are aggressively driving our non-oil related industries.”