An invasion of armies can be resisted; but not an idea whose time has come – Victor Hugo, 1802-1885.
The Age of Oil is coming to a sad end. Fossil fuel has been fingered as the major culprit bringing about climate change with disastrous results. Globally, nations are experiencing worse flooding, drought, forest fires and landslides – among other disasters.
In the early 2000s, I was commissioned by one of Nigeria’s leading industrialists to help produce the draft of an address to be delivered as a Keynote Speaker at the convocation of a University of Agriculture. The title was, ‘Sustainable Food Production in Nigeria’.
The research took me to the libraries of several universities, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA, Ibadan and the International Rice Research Institute, IRRI, Badeggi, Niger State. Several things were driven into my brain then which are coming true now. Increasing flooding, on account of rising temperatures was one of them.
That several island communities would be submerged by the middle of the century was one of my conclusions. The other was more frequent floods. The third was that crude oil will eventually have to give way to other forms of energy. All of the predictions are now coming true worldwide.
In 2000 nobody thought about solar power. Today, it is the third most important source of generating power after hydro and fossil fuel sources. An increasing percentage of vehicles – cars, trains and aircraft are going electric or solar.
Apart from collectively reducing reliance on fossil fuels, they are also increasing demand for solid minerals required to make the transition from fossil fuel dependence possible.
Ministry of Solid Minerals moves to centre stage: “Opportunity once lost can never be regained.”
Mr Dele Alake, the new Minister for Solid Minerals, is assuming duty at a time when Nigeria is desperately in search of new sources of revenue – particularly exportable products. I am not sure if Alake was disappointed that he was not given the Information portfolio as most Nigerians had assumed.
Admittedly, being the government’s spokesman is more glamorous and high-profile. But, it is also more politically hazardous. Few people have occupied that position without losing a great deal of the esteem they brought into the office. None, to the best of my recollection, since 1987, had made a lasting impression or left a legacy.
As Minister for Solid Minerals, he has an opportunity to carve his name on hard granite by becoming the first minister to make people sit up and notice that Nigeria does not live by crude oil alone. Solid minerals offer so much diversity and it is impossible for twelve commodities to go down at the same time. Blessed is the country that has so many to offer the world. All that is required is a mind that is versatile and can mobilize several thousand entities – large to micro-scale enterprises and even individuals – to produce and supply the results of their own efforts. And, unlike oil, many of the enterprises don’t need great capital to get started.
I sincerely believe that Dele Alake will succeed where others before him have failed woefully. I have met two former ministers, when in office, who took the appointment as punishment after all they did to get the President elected. One was almost in tears as he stated his grievances to me. Alake should confront the gargantuan task before him with courage and fortitude. He will succeed.
That said; it is important to stress the need for collective effort.
Not a one man job: “Together we shall succeed.”
A difficult but ultimately rewarding assignment invariably calls for community action. Given the poisoned political atmosphere, it might be presumptuous to assume that everybody will willingly contribute his own quota towards the development of a viable and sustainable solid mineral sector. Withholding support because you disagree with Tinubu is the worst form of disloyalty to the nation. It impedes her growth and prosperity – which is in everybody’s interest.
I was drafted among those who prepared Nigeria’s positions on Gender Equality at three Conferences – Cairo, Copenhagen and Peking – despite the fact that the Abacha regime had sent me to detention three times before then. We were paid very little. So, money was not the motivation for me. It was the opportunity to address how to alleviate gender-based poverty.
That is a long way to make the appeal that everybody should assist Alake in this task. The minerals we need might be in your backyard, your village, in your farm. You might know someone sitting on a great export potential and who only needs a little capital and publicity.
As Nigerians went to vote in February, I made a pledge to myself to help locate as many opportunities as possible for solid mineral development. I recalled the days, not too long ago, when I travelled to at least 28 states annually; all 36 states, every year, in three years. Invariably, I went by road – even when my employers could pay for flight. I saw a lot of the potentials. I am back; scouting for solid minerals potentials to be developed. And, I just found one.
A picture is worth a thousand words Wise scepticism is the first attribute of a good [media man]— James Russell Lowell, 1819-1891
When I was first told what Mines Cresta Terestre Limited could do, the sceptic in me immediately took over. Yes! I was searching for good potentials in the sector; but, they must be genuine. I asked for proof of what they can do. See for yourself, some of what a Nigerian company can do – if only it has the capital and encouragement by fellow Nigerians and governments of the Federation.
From information available to me, some of these products have been exported to Europe in the past. The export stopped when the exchange rates started escalating and the financial support stopped. Now, the company is open to several options – from equity participation to loan or a combination of both.
The quarry site acquired (documents available to prove) is in Ondo State on a major road, measures 1.2 square kilometers. I have been told can last more than 50 years in terms of production of raw materials.
Source; Vanguardngr.com
