By ChinyereAruogu
The deferral government had been alerted about the discovery of crude oil deposits in the Bida basin of Niger State. Also informed are officials of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the government of Niger State.
Professor Nuhu Obaje, the director of the Ibrahim Badamasi Babaginda University Research Centre, Lapai, is responsible for making the disclosure that crude oil deposits have been discovered in Bida basin, Niger State.
He did on Thursday, March 16 in Lagos, noting that his centre had already informed NNPC and the Niger State Government the about its findings.
Obajespoke at the exhibition of raw materials and local products in the Manufacturing and Equipment EXPO Nigeria 2017, in Lagos.
He also said his centre had introduced a technology for quick crude oil discovery and drilling.
Hear him: “We have a technology that finds oil faster. We found crude oil at Bida Basin and we used our technology to locate more areas.
“We have communicated it to Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and the State Government.
“They will use our research and produce oil faster and in abundance. Already, the Niger State Governor, Sani Bello, has written to the presidency.
“We are aware that they have acted on it. The ball is in the NNPC’s court because we are waiting for them.”
The director said his team was at the exhibition to showcase some of their works .
“He said: “We have moved to another level of application, innovation and domestication. We are here to demonstrate the research we have been doing over the years.
“We have developed a new technology of using clean coal for electricity generation, smokeless fuel production and power generation.
“We are using clean coals to stop the generation of fumes that are dangerous, so that people can use it without it being injurious to their health.
“Ordinarily, coal emits green house gases that negatively affect the climate but at IBB University Research Centre, we have had that dangerous part of the coals removed.”
Obaje also spoke about the exploration of solid mineral deposits in the state and other parts of the country, noting that “We are hoping that solid minerals and agriculture will complement crude oil as we are keying into the Federal Government’s policy of diversification.”
Also speaking, the Deputy Director of thecentre, Naomi Dadi-Mamud, said it was using oil and dead plants to generate bio-gas.
Dadi-Mamud explained: “My research on bio gas renewable technology was to convert such invasive plants on water bodies, like water lilies, and turn it to something useful.
“We cut the water lilies and dry before we convert them to either cooking or chemistry gas. Soon, we will begin to bottle the biogas and sell it commercially.
“Already, with a ton of water lilies, we produce 10,000 cubic meters of bio-gas daily and our goal in the future is to increase capacity.”