Building blocks for social stability in North East

In the midst of all the insecurity travails of the nation and indeed particularly the North-East sub-region, a flash of light registered a fortnight ago and was sadly unnoticed. It however spoke volumes of what would become of Northern Nigeria if the necessary initiatives were taken. Unknown to most of us, coal the hydrocarbon, had […]

In the midst of all the insecurity travails of the nation and indeed particularly the North-East sub-region, a flash of light registered a fortnight ago and was sadly unnoticed. It however spoke volumes of what would become of Northern Nigeria if the necessary initiatives were taken. Unknown to most of us, coal the hydrocarbon, had been established in commercial quantity in the small town of Maiganga in Akko Local Government Area, not far away from Gombe, the Gombe state capital. The coal discovery is the consequence of the exploratory activities of Federal and Gombe State governments, dating back to 2006. An exploration conducted within the selected area of 64 hectares of land in Akko local government area of the state revealed an estimated 4.5 metric tons of high grade coal, enough to make further mining worth-while. Today it is established that the deposits could sustain exploitation for over 25 years.
At a ground breaking ceremony in Ashaka Cement factory, President Goodluck Jonathan who was represented by Industry, Trade and Investment Minister Dr Olusegun Aganga, turned the sod to spark off the burning of coal found at Maiganga to generate 64MW of electricity. Being built in Ashaka is a Captive Power Plant (CPP) that will produce the 64MW of electricity of which Ashaka Cement Company requires only 40MW; obviously the remaining 24MW is readily available to the independent power distribution companies and the public.
This is cheering news whose significance must not be submerged in the current atmosphere of frustrating insecurity. The North East has undoubtedly presented President Goodluck Jonathan with a unique challenge of the Boko Haram insurgency, but it has also offered an equally unique opportunity to spearhead the reversal of fortunes of the nation in the area by addressing the investment opportunities that abound, through ways and means that are capable of absorbing the human resources available to the insurgency. This would be a potent weapon in fighting even mere restiveness, let alone the final outcome of restiveness – the insurgency.
Effects of the CPP would lead to reduction of production cost by over 50% and a relative reduction in the already exorbitant cost of cement. This would in turn bring about a significant change in the price and going further, would boost the building industry whose labour intensive nature would address unemployment.
Industry, Trade and Investment Minister Dr Olusegun Aganga, who represented President Jonathan, unveiled the plaque for the expansion of the cement form’s current 1000 metric tonnes capacity line to 1500 metric tonnes per annum.  Also added is the building of the new cement line of about 2500 metric tonnes production capacity per annum to raise the total production capacity of the company to 4000 metric tonnes per annum. This definitely charts the course for the survival of the sub-region if peace were allowed to rein so the harnessing of other potentials can take place. Chairman of the company’s board, Umaru Kwairanga said that this was a proud display of indigenous technical and commercial expertise by a local entrepreneur albeit in partnership with foreign technical experts. Presently, Ashaka Cement burns lignite from its Maiganga coal mine and by using this resource, has cut down on its dependence on diesel by nearly 70%, significantly increasing profitability for the benefit of all stakeholders. Cement is so important that today its consumption per head of population is an index for measuring the level of economic development of any country.  .
The North East sub-region is sadly in the news for the wrong reason. Here is a region with investment potential through the exploitation of abundant agricultural an mineral resources, bedevilled by a senseless home-grown insurgency that has massacred its people by thousands and stunted growth. The North East is offering enormous investment opportunities in Electricity Power Generation with Taraba State’s Kashimbila and Mambilla Hydro with potential to generate more power than the whole country’s installed generation capacity and renewable too. On their own, Adamawa and Gombe via Kiri and Dadin Kowa dams have potential to provide between 70 and 80 MW of power from the two dams. All the 6 States of the North East but particularly Borno and Yobe States have enormous potential for adding solar energy with both states already advanced in the investment for the generation of up to 20 MW of electricity from renewable solar power.
Troublesome North East it can be seen, offers the world nearly 100 thousand hectares of irrigable land suitable for sustaining the local and international food chain. While Dadin Kowa Dam has capacity to irrigate 44,000 ha of cultivable land, Kiri dam is already sustaining the 6000ha of Savannah Sugar lands. In all six states the agricultural offering is without measure.
In the run up to the North East Economic Summit, I asked Gombe State Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, who led the team, to encapsulate what went wrong. “We created the problems ourselves ….in one state, 9 out of 10 children were not in school. In the second state, 7 out of 10 were not in school. Adult illiteracy was high at 80%. In a particular state, a lot of resources were left in banks while the children were roaming the streets. Where you have an army of youth that we have not taken care of, or we have not engaged, then definitely, these youth, will engage us.” Sadly, this knowledge has come too late for the North East.
It has worked in Gombe, that in 4 years, Dankwambo’s government has successfully absorbed the Kalare youth with linked comprehensive development policies. There is hence hope, that if the Governors and Governments in the region set their minds to it, development of the type achieved at Ashaka Cement is achievable to provide more sugar plantations in the savannah lands, a resuscitated tomato industry, a revived Mambila Highland Tea, exploitation once again of livestock, cotton, groundnuts, gum arabic, all for so much good.