Water institute fabricates drilling machine

The rigs which can either be operated manually or motorized has the capacity to drill boreholes within hours. The rigs were commissioned recently by the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs Sarah Reng Ochekpe.Ochekpe commended the Institute for conceiving the idea of fabricating homemade drilling rig. She said: “Researchers at the National Water Resources Institute Kaduna […]

The rigs which can either be operated manually or motorized has the capacity to drill boreholes within hours. The rigs were commissioned recently by the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs Sarah Reng Ochekpe.
Ochekpe commended the Institute for conceiving the idea of fabricating homemade drilling rig. She said: “Researchers at the National Water Resources Institute Kaduna spent a lot of time to design and fabricate this and it is working. We are happy about it, this government is committed not just to developing infrastructure but also to ensuring that we drastically reduce the level of our dependence on other countries for equipment, create unemployment and get our young people gainfully engaged and employed.
“If we are able to empower the youths through the ownership of the rigs, it will go a long way in keeping them not only busy but also providing water for the people of Nigeria.”
Ochekpe said she will report to the President appropriately and would also engage with other sister ministries and agencies such as Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEDAN) on how they can further assist in the manufacturing and making the rigs readily available for use in different communities.
She said: “If Nigeria will be technologically developed all our research institutions must be busy and must be willing to come up with things that will be useful to the country .We don’t have to depend on external fabrication which importation consumes a lot of hard currency but when we produce within, it would be cheaper and readily available for use”.
NWRI Executive Director, Dr Olusanjo Bamgboye, said that the institute would invite private manufacturers to mass produce the rig and make it available for use. He said it should be noted that the National Institute for Water Resources remains the pioneer of the homemade fabricated drilling rig in the country.