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Buhari, Mele and Mungo Park, by Salisu Na’inna Dambatta
The phrase, “exploration,” has put President Muhammadu Buhari, Mele Kolo Kyari, the Group Managing Director and Chief Govt Officer of the Nigerian Nationwide Petroleum Firm (NNPC) Ltd and Mungo Park, the Scottish medical physician, in a particular class of individuals referred to as explorers.
Historical past signifies that Mungo Park got here to West Africa twice, together with areas that later represent Nigeria, as an explorer. His motive was to search out and conquer doable sources of riches for the enterprise and political management of the British Imperial Empire, particularly throughout his second expedition alongside River Niger in 1805. He got here with 40 troopers in tow.
Whereas Mungo Park’s exploration and seek for sources of fortune for his British sponsors ended about 220 years in the past, the exploration work by President Muhammadu Buhari and geologist-cum oil man, Mele Kyari, is ongoing.
As Minister of Petroleum Assets, President Muhammadu Buhari and a staff from the NNPC led by Mele Kyari, are intensely exploring for Oil and Gasoline, each onshore and offshore, Nigeria.
In contrast to Mungo Park, their motive for exploration inside the territory of Nigeria is to find extra sources of wealth, or riches, not for a British Empire, however doubtlessly for the advantage of hundreds of thousands of Nigerians.
Up to now their exploration effort has led to the invention of crude oil and gasoline in 2019 in an space the place Bauchi and Gombe states meet, that’s, the Kolmani Oilfield.
The Kolmani Oilfield the place Kolmani Wells I and II are situated is so wealthy in oil and gasoline that, the Kolmani Built-in Growth Challenge was conceived and flagged off in November 2022. Its function is to harness the oil and gasoline discover there and convert it into actual wealth.
In a speech throughout the flag-off ceremony on the website, President Buhari mentioned overseas direct funding value $3 billion has been attracted for the Kolmani River exploration and built-in improvement venture.
The Kolmani Challenge is billed to provide 50,000 barrels of crude oil day by day. It will likely be processed in a mid-size on-site refinery, thereby enhancing home gas provide, slicing the importation of white merchandise and in the end bolstering Nigeria’s fortune and incomes from oil and gasoline.
In one other exploration mission, the untiring explorers on the NNPC Ltd have moved to Obi/Keana Native Authorities Space of Nasarawa state. It’s within the Center Benue Trough (MBT), which confirmed a really excessive probability of oil deposits in business portions. Drilling of the primary oil exploration effectively within the MBT named Ebenyi-A, has commenced.
Acutely aware of the damaging impression oil extraction may trigger to the surroundings, President Buhari, cautioned NNPC Ltd and its companions to be proactive in caring for the environmental penalties of the oil exploration work and speedily mitigate any doable damaging results.
It’s vital that the unwavering explorers on the Nigerian Nationwide Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd led by the President are spearheading the nationwide exploration to lift the confirmed reserves and improve general nationwide crude oil manufacturing.
President Buhari mentioned the invention of oil in Nasarawa state was according to the continuing campaigns to discover crude oil and gasoline within the nation’s a number of Frontier Basins.
The Frontier Basins embrace Chad Basin, Dahomey Basin, Anambra Platform, the Calabar Embankment, Sokoto Basin, Bida Basin, Benue Trough and the offshore Extremely-Deepwater Niger Delta.
As indicated earlier, the aim of the continuing exploration actions by our explorers for hydrocarbons deposits led by President Muhammadu Buhari and the staff from NNPC Ltd, is to find sources of riches that may be deployed to boost the welfare of Nigerians. That is the purpose of departure with the exploration expeditions of Mungo Park.
Salisu Na’inna Dambatta is a senior journalist and retired Federal Director of Info
