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Sunday, July 25 2004 Search : Vol 17 No.30

News Opinion Features Sports Chic Columnists Faith Personage Magazine Interview Business Week Sunday Politics Ecowas Report Family Line Bitumen Project: Insecurity scares foreign investors from bitumen project SINA FADARE (just back from Agbabu) INSECURITY and violence in the oil-rich Niger Delta, is scaring foreign investors away from the multi-billion dollar bitumen deposit in Ondo State Impeccable sources told Sunday Champion that foreign firms which have already signified interest in the bitumen extraction have slowed down their plans, citing fears of similar instances among host communities in Ondo State. They based their fear on the hostile activities of militant youths against foreign oil companies in the Niger Delta, and are said to be seeking guarantees from the federal government that Ondo would not turn "too hot" for investors after deployment of capital, as is the case today in the Niger Delta. Indeed, at least two foreign firms which were billed to commence exploitation of the vast bitumen deposits in Ode Irele and Agbabu in Ondo State, have kept away, based on security concerns. Some won production blocks two years ago. According to Sunday Champion investigation, villagers in about 10 host communities complained bitterly about the neglect of the exploration of the natural endowment which could fetch the country about N1.36 trillion annually. Speaking to our reporter on condition of anonymity, some staff of NISSANDS Ltd, a Canadian company allocated block 307C at Ode Irele and Akure, noted that some of the foreign partners had returned to their country "due to Niger Delta crisis." "They were afraid that if their resources are committed and the communities revolted against them like Niger Delta, they would have everything to lose. It would be recalled that the chairman of the community relations committee of Bitumen Exploration and Exploitation Company Nigeria Ltd, Chief Alex Akinyele, cried out recently that acts of violence in the Niger Delta did not encourage investors to mobilise to site and explore bitumen in Ondo, despite the distance between it and the restive Delta area. The former minister of Information lamented "it is not easy to get technical partners because the events in the Delta area are acting as some kind of limitation to those who want to advance to us their money and their equipment." Sunday Champion also gathered that despite President Obasanjo’s promise in 2000 at Agbabu after visiting the bitumen fields that "within a few months", the communities will have cause to smile, nothing is visible on the ground. "I am committed to the exploration of this neglected resources. If I do not mean business, I would not be here. Let me assure you that we shall commence the exploitation of this God-given resources in a matter of months," the President had vowed. The traditional ruler of Agbabu, Oba Patrick Ebunade Akinmulero in a chat with Sunday Champion, bemoaned the apprehension and frustration of the community on the standstill

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