The claim by the Sokoto State Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko that oil has been discovered in his state in commercial quantity was greeted by mixed reactions. Weekly Trust reports
When Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State said oil has been found in his state in commercial quantity, he vowed not to disclose further details until he briefed President Goodluck Jonathan on the development. Weeks after the pronouncement, Governor Wamakko has not given further details.
When Weekly Trust visited Sokoto state, most government officials refused to comment as, according to them, it is only the governor that can provide information. Others however said the governor may have his reasons for not wanting to say much on the issue as such, no state official would like to comment on the matter.

After several efforts made to reach the governor for comments on the development have failed, a member of the State Executive Council (SEC), who pleaded anonymity, told this reporter that though the state government did not commission any research in the state with a view to finding the true status of oil deposit in the state.

“We have actually discussed the issue. The whole story started from a claim that in the pre-independence days, the colonial masters commissioned a research for oil and other mineral resources. Oil was said to have been discovered here in Sokoto state around Illelah, Gada, Goronyo and Argungu now in Kebbi state. We were told that the oil deposit discovered here at that time was not much. When the colonial masters discovered oil in commercial quantity in the present day Niger Delta, they abandoned this one and concentrated on the one over there.


“Since then, nobody paid much attention on the oil deposit in this area until we heard that Niger Republic has discovered oil. I am not sure anybody around here can still lay his hands on the report of the research conducted in the 50s by the colonial masters. However, the Chinese that are exploring the Niger Republic oil were said to have made available a report through the government of Niger Republic suggesting that there may be oil here. There was no research conducted in the state since the inception of this administration in finding about oil deposit in the state.

“There is wide belief in government quarters in the state that despite the alleged presence of oil in about four local government areas in the state, a village near Illelah is believed to have the largest deposit. I do not also know if that is backed by any genuine research report. But that is the belief around government circle,” he said.

However, when this reporter visited Illelah, the chairman of the council, Alhaji Garba Sabon Gari, was said to have traveled to Sokoto on official engagement. But when contacted on phone through some officials of the council, the chairman said, “I only heard it on the radio that the governor said oil has been discovered in the state. So, I do not know anything about it.”

But two elderly community leaders in Illelah, the Village Head of Illelah, Alhaji Abubakar Abdullahi Ubandoman and Walin Illelah, Alhaji Sanusi Muhammad told this reporter at separate interviews that there were several researches and field works conducted by several groups in the area with a view to finding oil.

Alhaji Ubandoma said, “Some white men dug some areas along the road to Kalmalu and carted away sand from there in boxes and went away with them. That was when late General Sani Abacha was the Head of State. The white men were looking for oil. But they did not return to tell us what they have discovered. About 30 years ago, when Alhaji Shehu Shagari was the president, some white men were also at a place near Garu Fadama and carried out a survey. They also carted away sand and left,” he said.

Alhaji Muhammad said, “A long time ago, it was after the civil war before Shagari’s regime, some white men went to Aburugal in search of oil and dug some holes. They took sand from them and left. But the one they left un-buried is still being used as a well where people fetch water. No, we have never noticed the adulteration of water in this area,” he said.

Reacting to insinuations that there is a village near Illelah where most of the alleged researches conducted in the state with a view to finding oil deposit, majority of those that spoke to this reporter said it may be Kalmalu, a village under Illelah local government, just at the tip of the Nigeria/Niger border.

When this reporter visited Kalmalu, the village head, Alhaji Isa Matankari Kalmalu, said some white men were said to be in the village before 1960 and carried out some researches aimed discovering oil, adding, “I was not born then, but my forefathers told me about it. We were told that when they came they even erected some signs at two different places. Since they left before Nigeria’s independence, they did not return to tell us the outcome of their research,” he said.

The village head delegated some of his palace chiefs to lead this reporter to where those signs were said to have been erected. Though one of the signs in form of a pillar built with stone was traced to a virgin land at the outskirt of the village, the other was allegedly destroyed and a house built on it. However, nobody in the village could give account of the said research.

Dr Aminu Muhammad Bayawa and Dr Farouk Umar Zaki all of the Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry at Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto (UDUS) are both involved in the ongoing research work aimed at discovering oil in Niger state. They said at different interviews that they are not aware of any such research carried out in Sokoto state in recent time.

Dr Bayewa, a Petroleum Geo-Chemist, said, “With respect to the claims by the governor of Sokoto state that oil has been discovered in his state, I do not really know much. I only read it in the papers like every other person. But where it was discovered, when it was discovered and who did the discovery, I have no idea. What we have done with the establishment of a Petroleum chair in the Petroleum Chemistry by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) is to organize a workshop in April, 2009 on the Sokoto Basin and its Hydrocarbon possibilities.

“You know, the Sokoto Basin is the same one that started from Libya down to Bida in Niger state. In the republic of Libya, it is called Sirte Basin and oil is being exploited there. Niger Republic has also started exploiting oil from the same Basin. In Nigeria we call it Sokoto Basin and is the same one that reached up to Bida in Niger state where we are now carrying out a research. We have collected samples from Bida and we are analyzing the samples now.

“I cannot tell you that oil has been discovered in Bida. It is too early for us to say so. We are still conducting the research. We were there; we collected some samples and are analyzing the samples. There is need for Geologists to come in and carryout a survey to determine the quantity and type of oil before any formal pronouncement could be made by any professional. You cannot stop the politicians from saying what they thing. Expert reports and communiqué were issued at the workshop I told you about,” he said.

Dr Zaki, who was the Secretary of the workshop, said Professor Nuhu Obaje of the Department of Geology and Geography of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai in Niger state presented a paper at the workshop that summed up the technical situation on the research in Bida area, adding, “I cannot substantiate that claim of oil discovery in Sokoto by the governor because we were not called upon to carry out any research in Sokoto and I cannot not lay my hands on any document suggesting what the governor is claiming.

“The only thing I can say is that in the 50s, one of the multi-national companies was called upon to carry out research on oil exploration. They did that in so many places and Sokoto was one of them. But because the oil was discovered in commercial quantity in the Niger Delta, they abandoned this one and went to the Niger Delta. That does not mean that coming to explore means there is oil here. Abandoning it to go to the Niger Delta does not also mean there is no oil here. Since then, I am not aware of any company that came here to do any form of exploration or to continue with what was earlier done.

“What I am not sure of is whether the governor was talking based on the outcome of that workshop because he was in attendance. The governors of Sokoto, Kebbi and Katsina were all at the workshop. So, I do not know if the Sokoto governor was talking based on the communiqué of that workshop or on another authority.

“That was because experts do not implicate themselves especially on matters like this. Oil presence is not something you can notice ordinarily. This is mineral that is deep under ground. You can only look out for things like the morphology, the formation of the soil and predict that there may be, apparently there is, for so, so reasons, there could be. In Science, you have to be very cautious especially when you are not 100 percent sure.

“In the case of Bida in Niger state, we are involved and we are carrying out the analysis here because we have the machines. Actually, the samples we collected from Bida have been analyzed and what you have there is oil. What we are not sure is whether there is a reservoir where the oil has collected. If there is a reservoir, it means the oil can be removed. If there is no reservoir, it means there is oil but not in commercial quantity. But in Sokoto here, there is no such evidence because no such research has taken place of late to the best of my knowledge. Yes, there were some studies carried out around the Sokoto Basin but that is not enough to reveal the presence of oil. Experts said at that workshop that all the information they have are indicative of oil within Sokoto and not certain that there is oil.

“Yes, it is the same Basin from Algeria that passes through Libya, Niger Republic to Sokoto and up to Bida. The Basin has a different name in each country it passes, but is the same Basin. Already, oil is being produced from the same Basin in Libya and Niger and so there is no reason why it may not be here especially because this oil migrates. All these pieces of information are the reasons they give at that workshop that there may be oil in Sokoto. But no one gave a clear cut statement that based on this or that research; there is this report saying there is oil in Sokoto. Hardly can any expert do that without scientific report,” he said.

Explaining the process of oil discovery, Dr Zaki said there must first be the source rock that produces oil, adding, “After the production, oil does not stay, it moves. It usually migrates. Then it migrates until it reaches a reservoir rock and then it will remain in that reservoir. Within the reservoir you now have wells. There could be different wells going into the same reservoir. Within the same Basin, there may be some areas that may not have oil. The presence of oil depends on the presence of a reservoir. You may have a source rock, it may be matured, it may have produced oil but the oil will continue to migrate until it reaches a reservoir. If there is no reservoir rock around then you have no oil.”

Meanwhile, Weekly Trust checks with the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in the state said the governor has not intimated them about the issue. At the national level, DPR spokesperson Mrs Belema Osibodu said the department has not been detailed about the Sokoto oil discovery.

“Anybody can make claims but unless such claims are verified, you can’t be certain,” she said.

Another expert in the department who does not want to be named said no one can claim to discover oil in commercial quantity in until proper seismic study is conducted and a test well drilled to ascertain whether it is oil or gas.

For now, all ears seem to be waiting for the governor’s elaboration of his statement.


http://weeklytrust.com.ng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10506:oil-discovery-in-sokoto-the-story-so-far-&catid=40:cover-stories&Itemid=26

i saíd it before that the story was probably a hoax