The House of Representatives has asked the Federal Government to
exploit the abundant bitumen deposits in the country for revenue
generation in its efforts to diversify the economy from its over
dependence on oil.
The House listed Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Edo, Ebonyi, Abia and Kogi states as areas with substantial bitumen deposits.
A lawmaker from Ondo State, Mr. Mayowa Akinfolorain, who moved a
motion on the economic value of bitumen on Thursday, told his colleagues
that Nigeria had 42.74 million metric tons of bitumen deposits, the
“second largest in the world.”
He added, “The House notes that bitumen deposits in Nigeria are
twice the amount of existing reserve of crude petroleum deposits and
when fully harnessed, will meet local requirements for road construction
and also become a source of foreign revenue for the country.
“That Nigeria essentially depends on crude oil sales as a source of
revenue to finance the budgets of all tiers of government, which has
now exposed the economy to grave danger due to the dwindling oil sales
in the international markets.”
The House, in a separate resolution, called for a policy on hepatitis like it did with HIV/AIDS.
The resolution followed a motion moved by Mrs. Aisha Dukku, who
advised the government to “create public awareness about Hepatitis
disease and integrate the Hepatitis B vaccine into the National
Immunisation Programme.”
Dukku said about 23 million Nigerians were infected with Hepatitis B
virus “making Nigeria one of the countries with the highest incidence
of HBV infection in the world.”
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