Bitumen as a crucial natural resource to Nigeria’s economy

By Bisola Adeyemo

Nigeria is greatly endowed with large deposit of natural bitumen with about 42.47 billion tonnes of bitumen, a quantity which is estimated to be the second largest in the world but is yet to be explored for economic purposes.
 
This mineral resource was first discovered in 1900 and the exploration started in 1905. The Bitumen reserves in Nigeria are twice the volume of the existing crude oil in the country. It is put at 42 billion tonnes.
 The irony of it, however, is, that these large reserves are not been exploited and most of the bitumen used in road constructions is imported.
 
With an estimated yearly import of more than N300 billion worth of bitumen, according to a report from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), the country’s solid minerals can boost its capital market.
 
Data from the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, shows there are bitumen deposits in Ogun, Ondo, Lagos, and Edo states.
 
What Is the Primary Use of Bitumen?
 
Bitumen is primarily used for industrial purposes. It can be found in the construction industry where it is used to make roads, which is why it is commonly called asphalt.
 
 Bitumen is used in the production of sealing flat roofs, roofing, and in making other roofing products such as soundproofing materials.
 
Also, it is commonly used to build highways, motorways, and rail networks with an excellent of water-proofing properties and is widely used for making roofing products along with a range of other household and industrial applications, from emulsion paints to sound-proofing.
 
 Bitumen has been proven to be effective on both high-speed railway tracks and heavy-load railway tracks.
 
 For the Marine construction industry bitumen is used for hydraulic applications such as canal lining, underwater tunnels, river bank protection, dam construction, and sea defenses.
 
 There are also numerous industrial applications like roofing felt material, printing inks, packaging paper, linoleum, electrical cable / Junction box insulation, mastic for roofing of terraces, and duplex paper manufacture.