Igbeti Marble Site An Untapped Goldmine In Oyo State Waiting To Be Explored — Hon Kazeem Olayanju
By Henry Odeh
The lawmaker representing Irepo/Olorunsogo state constituency at the Oyo state house of assembly, Hon. Kazeem Olayanju has called on Oyo state government to as a matter of urgency and importance in line with its drive to shoot up the state’s internally generated revenue IGR, to commence immediate exloration of the large marble deposits at Igbeti area of Olorunsogo local government, Oyo state.
Hon. Olayanju made this important call on the state government under the leadership of Engr. Seyi Makinde while having a media chat with Sunrise Bulletin correspondent today in his office at the parliamentary office, Ibadan.
The lawmaker noted that Oyo state among other states in the south west region of Nigeria, has no reason being among financially incapacitated states with the amount of untapped natural mineral deposits buried under its soil which he described as “Untapped goldmine.”
He said that the marble site was discovered in 1976 after which a private firm took over exploration in commercial volume that was commissioned by the then governor of Oyo state, late chief Bola Ige. He stated further that it was the explorational operations of the private firm that opened up Igbeti to the business world with countless remarkable social amenities provided by the firm to the host communities as at then.
Hon Olayanju noted that as at the time of exploration by the said private firm, the two most viable marble sites in the areas were Alaguntan and Ogun road sites (along Igboho road).
The lawmaker therefore, called on the Oyo state government through Natural Resources Development Agency that is saddled with the responsibility of harnessing and exploring natural resources in the state, to as a matter of urgency set machineries in motion to restore immediate exploration activities to the area with the view of generating revolving wealth for the state through income and employment generation.
Hon. Olayanju however thanked the chairman, Minerial Resource Development Agency, Mr. Abiodun Oni, for his duggedness and drive to return the agency to an income spinning agency for the state as shown in his plan to revamp the industry and therefore, appealed to Mr.Oni to bring his wealth of experience in the private sector to bear in his handling of this critical industry in order to reopen the area into a more economically viable part of the state.
