By Anaekwe Everistus Nnamdi

Kaolin, a versatile and valuable industrial mineral, holds significant promise for Nigeria’s mining and industrial sectors. Its wide-ranging applications, especially in the pharmaceutical industry, present an untapped potential for mining and processing into pharmaceutical-grade material for both local use and export.

Kaolin, or china clay, is a soft, white clay primarily composed of kaolinite. It finds applications in ceramics, paper, paint, rubber, and plastics. In the pharmaceutical industry, it serves as an excipient, binder, and coating agent for tablets, underscoring its economic significance. Pharmaceutical-grade kaolin is a premium product, requiring high purity levels and strict processing standards.

Nigeria boasts substantial kaolin deposits in states like Adamawa, Katsina, Ogun, Ondo, and Ekiti, with reserves exceeding two billion metric tons. Despite this abundance, the potential of kaolin mining and processing remains underutilized due to limited investment, inadequate infrastructure, and technological challenges.

The local demand for kaolin, particularly in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, is on the rise. As Nigeria’s pharmaceutical sector grows, fueled by an increasing population and higher prevalence of chronic diseases, the need for high-quality pharmaceutical excipients like kaolin is set to surge. Beyond pharmaceuticals, kaolin is essential in toothpaste, cosmetics, and agrochemicals, further diversifying its domestic applications.

Globally, the kaolin market was valued at USD 3.09 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 4.90 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.59% from 2023 to 2030. The rising demand across industries such as paper, ceramics, paints, and rubber drives this growth. Construction activities worldwide also contribute to the expanding market, aligning with the growing global population’s needs.

Pharmaceutical-grade kaolin represents a niche yet high-value segment of this market. Major importers include the United States, Germany, Japan, and South Korea, where stringent regulations require high-quality raw materials.

Nigeria’s strategic location and trade agreements with African and international partners position it as a potential supplier. Investments in mining and processing infrastructure could enable Nigeria to compete globally, leveraging its vast reserves and cost advantages.

Trends in the Kaolin Market

Increased Demand for High-Purity Kaolin: The pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries are driving the need for ultra-fine, high-purity kaolin that meets regulatory standards.

Sustainability in Mining: Emphasis is growing on sustainable practices, minimizing environmental impact, and benefiting local communities.

Technological Advancements: Innovations in processing technology improve beneficiation efficiency, meeting stringent global standards.

Local Value Addition: Many governments encourage local processing industries to reduce reliance on raw material exports.

Processing pharmaceutical-grade kaolin involves a series of meticulously controlled stages. The first step is mining and beneficiation, which includes extracting kaolin and removing impurities through processes such as washing, sieving, and magnetic separation.

Next, calcination is employed to heat the kaolin, removing moisture and enhancing its chemical and physical properties.

This is followed by grinding and micronizing, a critical phase where the kaolin is refined to achieve the ultra-fine particle size required for pharmaceutical applications.

Finally, quality testing is conducted to ensure the product meets stringent international pharmacopoeia standards, guaranteeing its suitability for high-value uses.

Modern processing plants in Nigeria could significantly boost the local value chain, create jobs, and reduce dependency on imported pharmaceutical-grade kaolin.

The Nigerian mining sector operates under the Minerals and Mining Act of 2007, which provides the legal framework for activities. Key provisions include:

Licensing: Companies require licenses, such as Exploration Licenses, Mining Leases, and Small-Scale Mining Leases.

Environmental Compliance: Operations must adhere to environmental regulations, including conducting Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs).

Community Engagement: Companies must engage host communities and deliver socio-economic benefits.

Additionally, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) oversees pharmaceutical product quality, including raw materials like kaolin. Compliance with NAFDAC standards is crucial for local producers targeting the pharmaceutical market.

Kaolin mining and processing offer Nigeria an opportunity to diversify its economy, reduce import dependency, and boost foreign exchange earnings. Investments in infrastructure, technology, and regulatory compliance can unlock the full potential of Nigeria’s kaolin reserves.

As global demand for high-purity kaolin rises, particularly in the pharmaceutical sector, Nigeria’s strategic position and abundant resources make it a key player in the industry’s future.

Anaekwe Everistus Nnamdi is the founder and Market Research Analyst of Foraminifera Market Research Limited, Lagos and can be reached via [email protected] or +234 8033782777

By Jerome-Mario Utomi

The Chairman of the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr Chiedu Ebie has said the commission recorded impressive achievements in 2024.

Speaking on Monday on a radio programme where he featured as a guest, Mr Ebie assured of the agency’s continued socio-economic and infrastructural strides in the Niger Delta.

The chairman, a former Secretary to Delta State Government, listed peaceful coexistence among members of the board and management, infrastructural provision, stakeholders’ engagement, and human capital development, among others as the commission’s key achievements in 2024.

“For us, our key achievement, first and foremost, which is what many people will take for granted, is peace and stability within the board and the commission.

“In the past, you know, NDDC was always in the news for the wrong reasons. But I’m proud and confident to say that in the one year that we’ve been there, it has been very peaceful, coexisting within the board and then, for everybody that has to do with the commission.

“Another achievement also is that we have created a very harmonious working relationship,” Mr Ebie said.

On seamless interface with critical Niger Delta stakeholders, Mr Ebie said pragmatic leadership made it easier, noting, “Have we been able to achieve that? We sat amongst ourselves and said ‘you must engage the stakeholders, periodically.

“So, about six months into our tenure, we conveyed a Niger Delta Stakeholder Summit which was held in two days in Port Harcourt. In July, we had critical stakeholder engagement ranging from the private sector to top government officials, to ethnic nationalities, and so on. We keep those engagements going.

“We’ve also engaged with the youth groups as well. I think we’ve had two such engagements with the youth group. So, in terms of stakeholder management, the day-to-day administration of the commission is led by the Managing Director/Chief Executive, Sam Ogbuku who I will say, has done an excellent job.

“We on the board, as a non-executive chairman, we superintend over the board and by extension, we supervise over the activities of management.

“So, we’ve worked to create that harmonious working relationship and at the same time, engage the stakeholders. So, that’s in terms of management and administration,” the NDDC chairman stated.

On infrastructural and human capital development, he said, “Other achievements would have to do with infrastructural development and capacity building in various areas, which I can highlight as we go along. But I will pause for now.

“There are a whole load of programs by the commission, which as we all know, is an interventionist agency. Sometimes, people tend to mistake NDDC for a tier of government. They make it seem as if NDDC is a tier of government but it’s an interventionist agency. In doing that, one of the things we will seek to achieve is to also make sure that we conduct empowerment.

“Now, the main one which we sat down and put together is Project Hope, which stands for holistic opportunities, programs and engagements. This is built around meticulously crafted programmes which include agriculture, entrepreneurship, internship, music and arts.

“Now, one of the things we realized is that over time, over the 24 years of its existence, NDDC has empowered many people.

“They’ve trained a lot of people. But you find that it is very difficult for you to sit down and determine the exact numbers. Or even the evaluation. What has been the impact of these empowerment programmes? So, it is a bit hazardous, and a bit unified. We sat down and said we need to rejig this thing.

“We need to create something that over time, as we go along, we will be able to measure the impact and know what each person has achieved and how it has impacted their lives. Has it taken them out of the poverty bracket and thrust them up the ladder? So, we came up with Project Hope which is in three phases.”

According to Mr Ebie, the first phase of the programme has to do with mapping and paper gathering which has so far seen about 3.2million youths registered on the platform. Phase Two, he disclosed is on the offing.

“We also have the youth internship scheme which we sort of made public towards the second or third quarter of last year where we tried to empower 10,000 youths across the nine NDDC states.

“Of course, based on their different skills, where they would earn a monthly allowance of N50,000. The world is advancing, there is technological advancement. Even your radio station here, as you can see, has benefitted from technological advancement.

“So, anything we’re doing, we have to base it along those lines. Everything is online. We register online. So, even for the youth internship scheme which would kick off in earnest, in January, we’ve now been able to gather all the data and categorise all the people into the different vocations or skill settings. These are two major empowerment programmes,” Mr Ebie added.

Speaking on NDDC’s intervention in the education sector in the Niger Delta, he informed that “educationally, we recently launched the U-lesson tabs, which is also another initiative of the commission. We had the launch to signify the partnership between the commission and the First Lady.”

“Yet again, this borders on technology, where we will be distributing tabs to schools across the region. And we’re very particular this time around. We don’t want to give out these things to students, parents or teachers who would toss them in one corner or use them for other things.

“Now, these are tabs that have a curriculum loaded onto them. And they aid learning and teaching as well. A pilot programme was run by the manufacturers. In over one year, they were able to measure the impact it has had on the children and the fact that it significantly improved their cognitive skills and their learning abilities.

“So, the outcomes were pretty impressive, which is what we’re trying to replicate across the nine states. Of course, we have the foreign scholarship programme which is postgraduate, where we offer scholarships to 200 hundred indigenes of the region who go through a rigorous process in determining those that are becoming eligible.

“I remember, when the board just got inaugurated in November of last year, one of the very first complaints I received was from people who said we should halt the scholarship scheme and review it. But when we sat down, and we spoke with the directorate responsible for it, we reviewed the process. We found that it was indeed very detailed, very transparent and it was given to those that were deserving of it.

“Out of two hundred students, that went abroad for this postgraduate scholarship program, eleven of them graduated with a distinction. It goes to show that it’s a good thing. What it does is that apart from the fact that you’re getting a postgraduate degree from a good foreign university, It also puts you on a different pedestal,” he added.

Continuing, the NDDC boss pointed out, “The effect is that it improves you and enables you to get a good job. When you return, you come and contribute your quarter to the improvement of the region. And then, eventually, we’re improving the knowledge base and empowering our people with good quality education.”

By Jerome-Mario Utomi

The most celebrated quote about time and season comes from the Christian Holy Book, the Bible. Ecclesiastes 3:1 states that “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…”

In tandem with the above Biblical admonition, it is my candid view that the cusp of 2025 appears most appropriate to peep into the 2024 activities of Mr Chiedu Ebie-led governing board and management of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

For those that have been following the trend, the Minister for the defunct Niger Delta Development (MNDD), Mr Abubakar Momoh, had in November 2023, inaugurated the new board of NDDC with a charge to have on their fingertips, the Eight-Point Presidential Priorities, that would guide them in the execution of their mandate and ultimately giving the Niger Delta and its people the desired new lease of life in terms of socio-economic and infrastructural development. He had told members of the new Board that their appointment came with octane expectations by the people of the region, expressing grit and optimism about the new board’s ability to deliver.

Niger Deltans’ heightened optimism and expectations that the new NDDC board will perform were conditioned by the antecedents of its members who had been tasked with ensuring that the commission facilitated the rapid, even and sustainable development and transformation of the region into an economically prosperous, socially stable, ecologically regenerative and politically peaceful sub-national.

One year down the line, the observations are heart-warming: first and very fundamental, in addition to being intentional in facilitating the rapid and sustainable development of the Niger Delta region and having demonstrated unwavering commitment in this regard, there is consensus among critical stakeholders that the greatest achievement of the present NDDC’s leadership is the prevailing peace and harmony in the region as can be gleaned from the relationship between the board and management, as well as the creation of leadership ideology that supports paradigm shift and promotes a government that is more responsive to the people.

“The governing board and management, have, to the admiration of all, avoided internal conflicts that plagued previous administrations at the NDDC. From all indication, there will be no misunderstanding, no strife, and no internal wars between the Managing Director and the Chairman. I believe that this current NDDC board will be the best. Barrister Chiedu Ebie comes from a noble home and has the capacity, ability, and vision to lead the Niger Delta to the next level,” a public affairs analyst and keen follower of events in the Niger Delta said.

Aside from the purpose-driven leadership with the ability to navigate the complex challenges facing the region which Ebie has brought to bear on NDDC, what is also working in favour of the governing board and management in the past year is their leadership style anchored on the singleness of purpose and deep knowledge of governance and of the region’s developmental needs.

Keen watchers of the going ons in the NDDC would admit that it is obvious that singleness of purpose so far demonstrated by the commission’s leadership and management has set the stage for socio-economic prosperity, social stability, ecological regeneration, and political peace ushered into the region in the past one year.

Indeed, going by the achievements recorded by the governing board and management since mounting the saddle, particularly the well-articulated thematic programmes and initiatives, I am of the opinion that the euphoria which greeted their appointment cannot be described as misplaced or misguided.

These policies, programmes and initiatives include: Building partnerships; project hope for renewed hope; lighting up the Niger Delta; carbon emission reduction; sustainable livelihoods; stakeholder engagement; improved youth capacity and skills base; effective and professional workforce; efficient and cost-effective projects; improved peace and security and so on.

Worthy of note is the awareness that these policy thrusts and programmes coming from the new governing board and management of the agency, amply qualify as development-based, as they entail all-encompassing improvement, a process that builds on itself and involves both individuals and social change, growth and structural change, with measures of distributive equity, modernization in social and cultural attitudes, a degree of political transformation and stability, an improvement in health and education so that population growth stabilizes, and an increase in urban living and employment.

In the areas of democratized infrastructural provisions, the governing board and management have to their credits, well-completed big-ticket projects that include but not limited to the nationally celebrated 132KV transmission line and 132KV/33KV substation in Ode Erinje, Okitipupa, Ondo State, built by the Commission, ending 15 years of blackout at Ondo South Senatorial District; as well as the 25.7km single carriage Ogbia-Nembe road project connecting 14 riverine communities with 53 culverts and seven bridges, among others.

Another action by the commission that qualifies as a right step taken in the right direction was its 2024 budget, as passed. The budget uniquely focused on critical infrastructural provisions, adopting a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model to drive sustainable development in the Niger Delta, collaborating with the Niger Delta Chamber of Commerce, Trade, Mines, and Agriculture, as well as various organizations and state governments, to enhance regional development.

One must also note that the 2024 budget of the agency passed through the due process of the National Assembly, giving the new team the leverage to perform and the benchmark to be evaluated.

It is a fact that if there is any area that Niger Deltans had all these years, desired to see improvement in, it is in the areas of infrastructural provision, particularly lighting up of the Niger Delta region and human capital development through youth empowerment/job creation.

The current board and management have met this desire and exceeded it to the admiration of all. Indeed, they have performed superlatively in the past year. Empowerment, for instance, has strategically assuaged the proliferation of youth restiveness – a threat which was more likely among the large army of professionally trained ex-agitators currently without a job.

This effort in youth empowerment becomes even more evident when one remembers the recent news report that the Commission has registered 3.2 million youths in its Holistic Opportunities Programmes for Engagement, Project HOPE, since the first phase of the programme, which was launched on July 4, 2023.

The commission recorded similar landmark achievements in the agricultural sector. It promoted programmes that guarantee food security and agricultural growth in multi-sectoral areas as a way of improving the living standards of the people.

Based on understanding that for any socio-economic development to take place, there is a need to develop manpower in the agricultural sector, the present governing board and management prioritized training, capable of improving both the socio-economic lives and promoting peace in the region in line with President Bola Tinubu Renewed Hope Agenda of developing capacity.

In education, the NDCC’s leadership has in the last one year awarded scholarships to 400 successful candidates from the region to pursue Master Degrees overseas, a programme which of course is an important component of the agency’s human capital development that seeks to use education to change the fortunes of the region.

Aside from the high-level transparency which branded the process, and made it possible for most of the beneficiaries to be those who never knew anyone from the NDDC or anyone who works there, this unique outcome and other positive vibes recently coming out from the agency, have significantly made Deltans to hastily but rightly conclude that NDDC has finally gotten a board with the understanding that it is their duty to serve our communities and embrace its aspirations, both now and in the future, by assuring the people economic growth, education, health, security, stability, comfort, leisure opportunities and freedom in ways that will allow for the most conducive atmosphere to achieve the targets that will guarantee our welfare and a bright future.

Essentially, for those in the know, the latest development and unprecedented achievement in the region in the last year may not come as a surprise. Rather, it exemplifies an honest governing board and management in total compliance with the directives of the Minister of the defunct Ministry of Niger Delta Development (MNDD), Mr Abubakar Momoh as stated at the beginning of this piece.

For me, from all ramifications, 2024 remains a good year for the region and its people!

Utomi, a media specialist, writes from Lagos. He can be reached via [email protected] or 08032725374