The Organised Private Sector has been urged to invest in Bitumen in order to meet local demand and increase Nigeria’s exports.
Nigeria’s Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu made the call for more Bitumen investment, when he declared open, the 10th International Conference Series of the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute NBRRI themed ” Circular Economy in the Built Environment for Enhanced Performance of the Nigerian Construction Industry” in Abuja the nation’s capital.
Dr. Onu said that Nigeria has an estimated 42 billion barrels of Bitumen reserves, adding that a whopping 43 industrial chemicals including heavy crude petroleum can be obtained from bitumen.
“I am happy that NBRRI has already carried out Research and Development efforts towards achieving fully paved roads using locally sourced bitumen. Though the trials are ongoing, the interim results are promising as bitumen samples collected locally are suitable for road construction based on comparison with international standards.
“With reduction in foreign exchange earnings for the country, due to the drop in price of crude oil in the international market, there is need to find alternative sources of bitumen as well as encourage the use of concrete in road construction” he stressed.
Socio-economic Fortunes
On improving socio-economic fortunes of Nigerians, the Minister commended NBRRI for its Research findings to save foreign exchange earnings and to encourage job creation, through the use of locally available raw materials.
He said this year’s event seeks concrete solution for eradicating wastage in the building and road construction industry.
“This no doubt, is a follow up to the positive impact of the previous annual international workshop and Technical Conference on topical issues organised by NBRRI with the primary objective of raising the awareness of stakeholders in the construction industry and the general public to assist in shaping future action plans for Nigeria.
This will not just enhance the performance of the construction industry but will boost the economy of the country as one of the major ways of increasing government’s revenue and improve the country’s GDP through viable Research and Development aimed at cost reduction,zero waste and income generation that would eventually translate to improved standard of living for Nigerian citizens”. he stressed.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr. Edet Sunday Akpan said the theme of the conference was apt, especially at a time of growing global concerns on the issue of circular economy, resource utilisation and smart cities development.
He urged participants at the conference to give in their best in regards to Research and Development outputs and results.
Also in a goodwill message, the Senate Committee Chairperson on Science and Technology, Senator, Uche Ekwunife, said that joint and concentrated efforts of critical Stakeholders in the construction industry, will further propel the nation’s Gross Domestic product.
She called for more participation from the Organised Private Sector in developing and commercialising Research findings of the Institute.
Hauwa Abu
