We’ve oil deposits in the North, says Maitama Sule
Our Reporter September 12, 2012 2 Comments »
We’ve oil deposits in the North, says Maitama Sule

From DESMOND MGBOH, Kano
[b]
Elder statesman and Nigeria’s first post-independence minister of Mines and Power, Alhaji Maitama Sule, yesterday in Kano, reiterated claims that there are oil deposits in the core-North.

He disclosed this on the occasion of the first Kano-Republic of Niger Trade and Investment Summit, where he added that apart from oil deposits, the core-North could boast of unexplored deposits of gold, diamond, silver, uranium and tin. “I know we have them. I was the first minister of oil and perhaps the longest serving minister of oil. I know we have them.

We have oil in Sokoto and uranium in Gombe. And so many other things,” he declared. He expressed happiness with people of Niger Republic over the recent discovery of oil in their land, praying that, “if we come together to explore all these things, we would be economically very, very strong.” He said that the summit would help revive the past glory of Kano, noting that from time immemorial, Kano had been “a rendezvous of business men, a commercial and industrial centre, including being a cosmopolitan place where different people and tribes converged.”[/b]

He recalled that Kano and the Niger Republic had always been together religiously, economically, socially and politically. In his remark, the Governor of Kano State, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso stressed the need to promote the relationship between his state and Niger Republic.

He regretted that despite the efforts by the various arms of governments in the two countries, the daily trading activities across the borders had been facing several forms of corrupt practices, intimidation and undue delays at the border posts, which resulted in losses and discouragement of the traders. Kwankwaso lamented the wave of smuggling of goods across the border of the two countries, which resulted in the flooding of the market with substandard goods and products.

He also lamented the lack of awareness among the trans-border traders on modern business techniques like cashless transactions and e-payments despite the existence of ECOWAS bank in both cities. He regretted that till date businessmen in both cities were in the habit of entering into transactions without written documents and without notifying the relevant authorities of their respective home governments, saying most of the businesses ended up with losses arising from breach of contract from either of the parties.

He urged the summit to address these issues and create a conducive atmosphere for cross boarder trading, adding that there was so much to explore in terms of business opportunities between Kano and Niger Republic. In his remarks, the Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Mohammed Abubukar said the Nigeria police was willing to provide a secured environment for whatever initiatives the summit would reach at the end of the day. Several governors of different states of Niger Republic, including the minister for livestock of Niger were in Kano for the summit.

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