May 22, (THEWILL) – The Ebonyi State government said it is planning to establish a metallurgical institute in Ebonyi for research purposes, testing of minerals, so as to increase revenue generation for the state.
Honourable Chidi Onyia, Commissioner for Solid Mineral Development, who disclosed this in an interview with THEWILL in Abakaliki, said that the state government had spent N67 million to acquire different mineral titles.
According to him, numerous foreign nationals from Russia and China were approaching the state government for partnership to develop various mineral deposits in the state.
He said, “The Ministry has been working seriously to, of course, we have a huge deposit of limestone, if not the best in the country. Ebonyi is blessed, seriously. I think what is known to most people is the deposit at Nkalagu, which is the Nigercem.
“We have deposits of cement in almost all the local governments of Ebonyi. But a greater percentage is in Izzi, Ebonyi, or Ohaukwu, Ishielu, and even in some parts of Afikpo. Now, we’ve been discussing with so many investors who are interested in establishing a cement factory in Ebonyi.
He explained the challenge facing the state government to develop the Nkalagu cement, attributing it to legal issues with Ibeto, a major shareholder.
“But the challenge has been that the Nkalagu Nigercem is jointly owned. It is not fully owned by the state government, and there are some legal issues around it. But we’ve also tried to reach out to the major shareholder, that is Ibeto, to know if we can partner with him, and we are still optimistic.
“And we’re also discussing with him, of course, we have so many foreign nationals, like Chinese companies, who are willing to partner with him. So by the time he’s open for business, that’s the first part of it.
Onyia, however, stated that the state government had acquired mineral titles, which made it eligible to negotiate with investors.
“Now, coming to other areas that will have cement, we have companies that have been coming. I recently received one from Russia, and some from China, who are interested. The good thing is that we have some mineral titles. Of course, His Excellency approved 67 million naira for us to acquire licenses for the state government.
“So presently we have some mineral titles that cut across almost all the local governments of the state, and we intend to acquire more. The approval is out, what remains for us to pay for the grants, then get hold of the license. And when we do this, when these companies come, what it means is, as they are coming in, they will be negotiating with the state government as the title holder. And that gives us a comparative advantage. Of course, we decide who to give to and how to do it.
“That’s that. We also have titles in salt, the Uburu and the Okosi salt. The state government is the titleholder of those two areas. We are discussing how we can’t be answering the salt of the nation, and we don’t have salt. But I want to shock you. The salt we consume in Nigeria, over 70% of the salt we consume is imported.
“The Dangote you hear, they import and refine. Some of the salts we consume come from Namibia and some other African countries, not from Nigeria. And we are saying that we want to have our own salt factory.
“Yes, I have some Chinese people who are also interested in our salt. But the challenge is that most of them, because of power, their interest is in harvesting the salt, taking the salt to Lagos for processing. But I said, no, if you must benefit from our salt, you must establish a salt factory here, process it here, then it will bear Ebonyi as a state of origin.
“But taking it to Lagos at the end of the day, like the Dangote and whichever company, you will see the address, either Portharcourt or Lagos. And that is not adding any value to us. So we are insisting.
“That is why, ordinarily, we would have started mining at the Uburu and Okposi salt, but we are saying, no, if you are not ready to develop it in Ebonyi here, we can’t give it to you. And that is why we are still holding the Ebonyi salt. So for Ebonyi cement, we are very optimistic that our negotiations and interactions with so many investors.
“Before you go into mining of any of these minerals, you must have either the licenses, and that must come from the Ministry of Solid Minerals. So the Ebonyi cement, we are discussing with so many interested investors, but we are telling them to look away from Nkalagu and look towards where we have titles.
“Because it will be easier for us. The litigation and all that will not be there. And we are also planning to have a metallurgical testing institute in Ebonyi, which their school has given approval for feasibility studies, which we are doing.
“Our idea is to partner with any of the universities we have in Ebonyi, so that the institute will be domiciled in the university for sustenance. We wouldn’t want a situation where we would leave it in the hands of civil servants or politicians, possibly at the end of His Excellency’s administration, it will be a different story. But if it is in any institution in Ebonyi, it will be used for research purposes, testing of minerals from here and all that, which will in turn generate revenue for the state.
“So we have so many in our program. We also intend in the coming days to start mineral mapping. We want to do a holistic geological survey of minerals in the state. So that we will have enough data on the minerals we have in Ebonyi. There are so many minerals that we have in Ebony, but because there are no proven data, you can’t for sure to present it to a willing investor that you have.
“Because the first thing you will be asked is, Where is the data? And if the data is not there, they will definitely not take you seriously”, he said.
Sunday Ogbu is a professional journalist with eight - twelve years experience that had worked with various print and online media. Sunday specializes in news reporting with the aim of educating his readers on current social, political and economic occurences within his area of coverage. Sunday is a strong force to work with in the media industry and uses his positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed. Sunday is inspired daily by his wife and their four children. In his free time, Sunday likes sight-seeing, reading and discussing issues of societal interest.
