We find it disturbing and sad that a country like Nigeria, despite being blessed and endowed with so much mineral resources like coal, that holds so much economic potential; is still amongst the poorest countries in the world, to the extent that we have practically become a nation that virtually imports everything to satisfy domestic demands. Despite the fact that Nigerian coal ranks one of the most bituminous in the world due to low sulphur and ash content, and rated environmentally-friendly in line with global campaign on cleaner source of energy in order to reduce negative impact of climate change, the Nigerian past and present Governments have not been able to judiciously utilize its abundant coal resources for the benefit of its citizenry and the Nigerian economy.
According to reports. Nigeria’s present coal deposit stands at about 2.8 billon metric tonnes reserves in 17 identified coalfields and over 600 million tonnes of proven reserves in Nigeria. Some of the states where coal has been discovered in commercial quantity include Enugu, Benue, Kogi and Plateau States, respectively. This is an irony of a nation wallowing in abject poverty, while sitting untapped wealth. A study by Behre Dolbear & Company (USA), Inc. subdivided the areas of coal deposits in the country, which include the Anambra Coal Basin; this basin was into seven coal mining districts, out of which three of the basins have been explored to an appreciable level, and they are the Kogi, Benue and Enugu Coal Districts and they further have two or more coal resource areas each. The Kogi Coal District holds an area of 225,000 hectares of the Anambra Coal Basin, and it lies on the north-eastern side of the basin. Two areas within the district have been explored to a limited degree. In the northern part of it, Ogboyoga, drill data, has it that there are 27 holes, which have been drilled and cored and 15 separate measurements have been taken of outcrops of the main coal seam in stream drainages.
The one that stands out most is that of the coal deposits in Enugu State. History holds it that coal was first discovered in Nigeria in 1909 at the Udi Ridge in Enugu by a British mines engineer, Albert Kitson. But, Kitson was not exploring for coal. He had hoped to discover silver. With this exploration and discovery of commercial quantity of coal deposit, in 1914, the first consignment of coal was exported to the United Kingdom from the Port Harcourt ports. By 1916, the Ogbete Mine was in full operation and in that year alone, it yielded 24,511 metric tonnes of coal. With this mining site becoming a beehive of activities Coal production rose to 790,030 metric tonnes. The Ogbete mine’s operations and others in the country were merged into a new corporation in 1950.The Nigerian Coal Corporation. The NCC was tasked with exploiting coal resources and held a monopoly on coal and coke mining, production, and sales until 1999. The name Enugu is synonymous with coal. This is due to the existence of large quantities of coal that drove the engine of the nation’s economy before the civil war. The acronym ‘coal city,’ for which Enugu State is presently known reflects the abundance of the mineral resources in the area. Experts have put Enugu’s coal at two billion tons, or more.
Nigeria’s coal industry suffered a blow in the 1950s when oil was discovered. Up until this point, the Nigerian Railway Corporation was the largest consumer of coal in the country. However, after the discovery of oil, the Railway Corporation began to replace its coal burning trains with diesel-powered engines. An additional negative impact came when the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria began converting its power generation equipment from coal to diesel and gas as it was further gathered that greater attention was paid to it at a time because of its many uses in powering heavy engines, provision of electricity among others, leading to employment creation. It was also in higher demand then, among many countries. The Nigerian Civil War also negatively impacted coal production; many mines were abandoned during the war. Following the war, production never completely recovered and coal production levels were erratic. Attempts at mechanizing production ended badly, as both the implementation and maintenance of imported mining equipment proved troublesome, and hurt production. After the civil war, the Nigerian coal industry has not been able to return to its peak production of the 1950s.
Today, it is as if the country’s coal industry is non-existence, as it seems little or nothing concrete is happening in the industry to revive it back to its glory. In fact, there were no words to best describe the anomaly in the sector when it was reported some years back that some industrialists and electricity generating companies have started the importation of coal from South Africa, as a proactive measure against the lingering power supply crisis in the country. According to the said report, this is to enable them to switch over to coal-powered turbines for their respective operations. The move was said to have been informed by the frustrations being experienced by the operators in getting gas to fuel their respective power plants. Leading the coal-import initiative from South Africa is Dangote Cement Plc, which had placed an initial order of 30,000 tonnes of the commodity from the continent’s second largest economy.
Surprisingly, a recent report noted that coal is clinging to the top spot in power generation, accounting for as much of the world’s electricity as it did two decades ago, despite heightened concerns about climate change and a slowdown in financing for projects involving the dirtiest of fossil fuels. U.S. exports of coal more than doubled in 2017 and are set to grow this year, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Countries across Asia and Africa are expected to increase their use of coal for expanding power generation through 2040, says the EIA. The rebound shows coal’s resilience, especially in emerging regions, and recent events suggest the market for black combustible rock will remain strong. In the U.S., the Trump administration has proposed to reverse U.S. rules on coal emissions, and countries including India and Vietnam are planning major coal projects.
Coal accounted for 38% of the world’s electric power generation in 2017, putting it at the same level as in 1998, according to a recent report by BP PLC. A revival of the thermal coal market last year helped to lift mining companies’ earnings and share prices. Among them was Glencore PLC, one of the world’s largest mining concerns. In March, it spent $1.7 billion for coal assets in Australia as part of a bet that demand for coal in Southeast Asia will remain robust.
The question is, where is Nigeria and its huge deposits of coal in all of this? What is the happening to the nation’s coal industry? The nation’s coal reserves remain largely unexploited, even after past Federal Government has sold out the blocs to prospective miners. For instance, why should the nation be importing coal from South Africa to power its industries and plants when we have abundant coal deposits waiting to be tapped and utilized?
We are aware that the World Bank stopped financing coal in 2010 because of the hydrocarbon’s link to global warming, and many international banks are turning away from fossil fuel projects, but still, coal plants are attractive because they are less expensive to build than renewable energy facilities. The cost of constructing a renewables plant is roughly double the outlay of a fossil-fuel facility, experts say. Government officials in developing nations, many of whom say they want to curb the use of coal to combat climate change, often face the difficult challenge of doing so without slowing economic growth.
Important users of coal include alumina refineries, paper manufacturers, and the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Several chemical products can be produced from the by-products of coal. Refined coal tar is used in the manufacture of chemicals, such as creosote oil, naphthalene, phenol, and benzene. Ammonia gas recovered from coke ovens is used to manufacture ammonia salts, nitric acid and agricultural fertilizers. Thousands of different products have coal or coal by-products as components: soap, aspirins, solvents, dyes, plastics and fibers, such as rayon and nylon. Coal is also an essential ingredient in the production of specialist products:Activated carbon – used in filters for water and air purification and in kidney dialysis machines; Carbon fiber – an extremely strong but light weight reinforcement material used in construction, mountain bikes and tennis rackets; Silicon metal – used to produce silicones and silanes, which are in turn used to make lubricants, water repellents, resins, cosmetics, hair shampoos and toothpastes. This makes the export of coal a money-making venture that any serious government should strive to actualize. The five largest coal users are China, USA, India, Russia and Japan – and they account for 77% of total global coal use.
The truth is that if the Nigerian coal sector is fully developed, it will create enormous employment opportunities for the countess Nigerian jobless youths roaming the streets, and it will also create export opportunities that will rake in a lot revenue for the country, just like the US. It is funny that the same US and the West that are talking about global warming are the ones leading and thriving in the coal business deals that is creating wealth for them. The coal sector is a manual-driven sector that is not automated, hence it is one that will provide enormous job opportunities for the Nigerian youths. If the US, as the super number one world power is relying on coal energy and coal export, why can’t the Nigerian Government focus their attention on utilizing the coal potential of the country and develop it to generate wealth for all.
Zik Gbemre, JP.
National Coordinator
Niger Delta Peace Coalition (NDPC
