Geologist Says Discovery of Oil in Bauchi is False

The claim of oil or gas at the Benue trough in Bauchi State has been described as mere political statement rather than an economic fortune, a geologist in the state, Dahiru am Mohammed Kafi, has said.

“Where is the oil or gas in Bauchi State? What evidence do you have? I’m a professional and when you say there is something you have to show me evidence, there is no information whatsoever to indicate the quantity of oil or gas available in Bauchi State,” he queried.

According to him, you can find some quantity of oil or gas which is not economical to exploit, recalling that the last attempt to find oil in Bauchi State was between 15 to 20 years ago,

Kafi, however, admitted: “I pray that there is oil in Bauchi State and I pray also that we can get it. And there has been a lot of improvement in technology today where even in the Delta region, places that have been exploited before and found dry are today finding oil because new technology has been employed.”

Kafi in an interview with journalists in Bauchi, at the weekend, stressed the need for the use of new technology in the state oil discovery bid to ensure that whatever was achieved becomes a reality.

“There was a time we drilled one kilometer dept of well in Kumo looking for water, we didn’t find water but we found a thing that as a geologist made me feel that there is the possibility of getting oil in Bauchi State. I have a passion for this, I’m from Bauchi and will love to see oil in the state,” he revealed.

Kafi, who is also the Managing Director of Damagix Nigeria Limited/Oil and  Gas Services, hinged the success or otherwise of the oil finds in the North to northern leaders whom, he said, had been selected or elected to steer the ship of the region.

“I keep saying the northern leadership, take for example the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) or the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), these are groups of people that made up the northern leaders, or anybody that feels he is a leader in the North owe it a responsibility to get oil in the region,” he stated.

Kafi urged northern leadership to take up the role of oil find in the North seriously.
He, however, stressed the need for the northern leadership or the Northern Nigeria Development Corporation (NNDC) to be involved in the oil find.
Describing the North as a huge entity in the country, Kafi said the northern leaders and NNDC should put more pressure on the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the federal government to put in appropriate resources in finding oil in the North.

He noted that they must be honest and committed in what they are looking for, as well as putting the right people that have the idea and know what they are talking about, not people that are related to them.

“Thirdly, if they have the resources, they can bring some consultants and sign agreements with them.”

Kafi also advised that whichever organisation, groups or persons to be involved in the North oil find particularly the Chad basin where he recalled, exploration started over three decades ago, to start afresh because, as he puts it, ‘the date being used in the basin was not very correct’ to determine the availability or otherwise of oil there.

“The seismic information available in the Chad basin is not good enough, exploration in the Chad Basin started more than 30 years, they didn’t find oil because the basic date they were using was not very correct, so if you pick up the date given you, you are going to be off the mark,” he cautioned.