Kayode Akinmade: Affirming Abiodun’s foresight, frontier exploration begins in Ogun

Receiving the 2023 Man of the Year Award from the Silverbird Group at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos, in March this year, the Ogun State governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, gave ample indication of his governing style and strategic vision. Hear him: “Our administration in the last four and a half years has transformed our vision into making the state the investor’s destination of choice. We have also successfully implemented people-oriented policies and carried out reforms to improve efficiency and service delivery, leading to the state being the most improved in Internally Generated Revenue in the country. We have implemented a multi-modal transportation plan and other infrastructure across the state. We have constructed over 500 kilometres of road, built over 3,000 affordable houses, renovated over 1,000 schools, and constructed our Gateway International Airport.”

The people-driven thrust in governance, evidenced by the wide consultations and town halls usually held by his administration before every budget cycle, is at the heart of his ISEYA mantra. It was therefore no surprise that when, six months ago, while presenting the 2024 budget before the state House of Assembly, he indicated that the Gateway State would soon become an oil-producing state, the people took him very seriously.

Apprised of his strategic foresight, the people had witnessed his roll-out of CNG-enabled vehicles long before the removal of subsidy, his establishment of a joint commission on rice that proved pivotal when the cost of the produce shot through the roof, his construction of a world-class airport for the export of agricultural produce and for passenger traffic, and his opening up of the Olokola Free Trade Zone, among other landmarks. And just like the governor that many now refer to him in Niger Delta parlance as talk-and-do said, oil exploration has kicked off in the state. That much was indicated by the Federal Government delegation that visited the state last week, bearing tidings of joy. Ogun is set to join the league of oil-producing states with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited’s (NNPCL) kick-off of oil and gas exploration in the state.

Last Friday, Governor Abiodun played host to the delegation comprising the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri; the Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company Ltd, Mr. Osagie Okubor; Chief Executive, Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe and NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Mele Kyari. An elated Lokpobiri, speaking at the Governor’s Office in Abeokuta, said: “We have very high potential of discoveries here. Ogun has always been part of the Dahomey Basin and our presence underscores the seriousness the Federal Government attaches to the exploration activities that we want to carry out in Ogun State.”

In his remarks on the occasion, Governor Abiodun said Ogun State is part of the OPLs 302,303, 306 and 307, affirming that the acreages present unique opportunities for the qualification as a Frontier Exploration State as defined in Section 9 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). Hear him: “Ogun State presents some unique opportunities towards the realization of the full intentions of the PIA’s Section 9 on frontier exploration as it will contribute to guarantee additional petroleum production of additional petroleum products for the country and afford more supply to potential refineries in the area. As a low hanging result, this area also presents the opportunity for bitumen extraction, thereby reducing import dependency and bringing with it savings in foreign exchange expenditure on this single line item.”

And speaking during an interview with TVC on Friday evening, he provided further historical context. His words: “It is indeed a great day for the entire people and government of Ogun State. This afternoon the entire leadership of the Ministry of Petroleum led by the Honourable Minister of State fir Petroleum, Senator Heineken Lokpobri, the GCEO NNPCL, the CEO Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission were here in Abeokuta to formally declare Ogun State a frontier state for oil exploration in line with the establishment of the Frontier Exploration Fund Administration Regulations as defined under Section 9, subsection 4 of the PIA. What this basically has done or will do is to allow Ogun State to join the comity of states that are oil-producing when this exploration is successful. And we don’t have a doubt that it will be successful because Ogun State is part of the family of states that belong to the Dahomey Basin, a geographical area that starts from just beyond the Delta and goes all the way to the Eastern part of Ghana. And when you look at the fact that there are OPLs that have become very prolific by the Delta and that other oil -producing explorations have been made by Benin Republic and Ghana, it stands to reason that that same Basin that our state belongs to, when that exploration commences, should be very positive. Beyond that, we have studies that have revealed that in 1937, Shell Darcy Nigeria Ltd began exploring for oil in Nigeria and in Dahomey Basin and actually explored oil around Ogun State, around where we now have OPL 303, OPL 306, OPL 307. Unfortunately, as soon as they discovered oil in Oloibiri, they abandoned the exploration in Ogun State.”

That abandonment, evidently, is now history. Himself a big player in the oil industry before he assumed the reins at Oke Mosan, Abiodun, following his inauguration as the Gateway State’s fifth democratically elected governor, devoted his energy and expertise to bear in ensuring that Ogun is counted as an oil-producing state. For Ogun, an industrial hub boasting Nigeria’s fastest growing population and industrialization, being oil-producing is long overdue. Apparently, as oil exploration kicks off, Nigeria’s manufacturing capital will be able to contribute a greater quota to the federation’s revenue profile. With increased revenue for itself, enhanced job creation and the creation of an enabling environment for allied companies in the oil industry, the oil prospecting will be a game changer in the economic life of Ogun State. It will facilitate greater development and help to address infrastructure decay. It will attract investors and have value chain effects down the line. The multiplier effects on the Ogun economy cannot be quantified.

Actually, when the governor’s latest intervention in allied with projects like the dry port at Kajola and the agro cargo airport at Ilishan, the fact becomes clear that Prince Abiodun has written his name in gold. No government in Ogun State recorded his kind of achievements in so short a time. The Gateway International Airport is world class, not an instance of “airport for airport’s sake.” As Ogun turns the sod in Kajola in the next few weeks, taking advantage of the rail line passing through it, the Abiodun project of turning it into a giant construction site becomes even more evident. Almost on a daily basis, people are moving into ogun because of the arable land and food production, and its status in the next few years is bound to be enviable, a fitting tribute to the genius of the man political naysayers gave no chance. Now the rejected stone has become the head of the corner. The best, clearly, is yet to come…

Akinmade is Special Adviser on Media and Communications to the Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun,CON.