FG to revamp Enugu coal for electricity

The Director General of Voice of Nigeria, VON, Mr. Osita Okechukwu recently led a delegation to Enugu Government House, of investors who want to set up a coal power plant in the Coal City.

He said the Federal Government was looking for how best to generate more power, knowing that South Africa, China and others generate more than 60 per cent of their electricity from coal.

He said that there are large coal deposits in Nigeria from Enugu, Benue, Kogi, Gombe, to Sokoto, adding that ‘why don’t we tap into this resource. Especially, when you consider that our over dependence on Gas power plants sometimes face the challenge of the restiveness in the Niger Delta’?

“Thus, while it is very important that we develop more gas power plants, there is still need to have alternatives, more hydro power plants and even the micro hydro. The idea is how fast can Nigeria generate 40,000 megawatts whether via hydro, gas, coal, solar, or wind,” he said.

The DG stated that the 3D seismic study is important because, it is deep coal mining. “If it were surface coal mining you could use gravity like in Kogi, Gombe or Sokoto states but when you are going more than a kilometer deep you have to use the 3D seismic survey. The late paramount ruler of Agbaja, Chief Onyeama Onwusinkata went to England between 1907 and 1909 because of this same coal.

“He represented Enugu and signed the agreement between our people and British Coal. As Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi said is it not a paradox that we have on our mast number coal city and some of the kids born after the civil war had never seen a block of coal yet we are addressed as coal city? That is why we now said the best front is that Enugu state government, the Federal Government and the Simang Group should go into partnership once and for all to revamp Coal,” he added..

Okechukwu explained that it is not the partnership of assigning shares of numbers, but aiding Foreign Direct Investor like Simang.

“The control of Solid minerals is still in the hands of federal government of Nigeria, then the state is holding the custody, and now go into support partnership with Simang Group and while the President has agreed to give honest support to it,” the DG stated further .

He said that the Federal Government has a policy of providing the enabling environment for private investors and not managing Coal enterprises.

According to him,“The issue of allocation or concession of the Coal blocks is in the hand of Federal Government. Don’t forget the Minister is a federal minister and not a state minister. All I am saying is that Coal is under the exclusive legislative list, which is under the purview of the Federal Government of Nigeria. Yes, there is agitation that it should not be, but the Constitution has not said otherwise.”