Lexy Blog

NIGERIAN NAVY NAB 43 OVER ILLEGAL OIL BUNKERING Alexander Chiejina with agency reports The 2009 amnesty offer by the Federal Government to militants has produced some positive results, to the effect that, attacks to oil installations in the Niger Delta region have almost stopped completely. However, recently a new dimension to the militancy has rather been upbeat.  These are crude oil stealing – otherwise called illegal bunkering and illegal refining. The joint military task force, Operation Restore Hope, which was deployed to the Niger Delta following increased militants’ attacks and destruction of oil facilities from 2004, said, it now grapples with increasing illegal bunkering and illegal refineries. Since January this year, the JTF said it has impounded more barges, wooden boats, drums of oil, and other container vessels – all laden with stolen crude oil. Added to this act is erecting of illegal refineries – which is using drums to carry out rough heating up of the stole

No doubt, the country is endowed with numerous mineral resources. With the nation embarking on a new drive to turn its large deposits of sold minerals into major contributions to national income in order to diversify its foreign earnings away from oil. In recent times, there have been key developments affecting the sector that are intended to make it more conducive for private investment. With the solid minerals sector having the capacity to provide an estimated three million jobs, both in its upstream and downstream sectors, there is local and international demand for solid minerals resources, which provide substantial trade and investment opportunities for both local and international investors. Recent policy reforms have brought the solid minerals sector to the fore. However, below is a profile of solid mineral deposits in the nation yet to see robust foreign investors’ participation TALC An estimated reserve of over 100 million tones of talc has been obtained in Niger, Osun, Kog

Miners at work Despite huge solid mineral deposits in the nation, the sector is yet to be fully exploited in the face of vast opportunities that investors can exploit, writes ALEXANDER CHIEJINA Fifty one years after Nigeria’s independence, the solid minerals sector is yet to take off fully. In an age when countries around the world are tapping into their natural resources, the nation has continued to rely almost entirely on oil wealth, relegating the bulk of other mineral resources to the background. Up until the oil boom of the 1970s, Nigeria’s economy was largely sustained by the exploitation of solid minerals. Coal and tin were among the natural resources mined on a massive scale, with the former being used to generate electricity, power the railway network and meet the demands of regional and international markets. Going further, lead and zinc were a significant source of export revenue, and Nigeria was the world's largest exporter of columbite. Despite the laudable