FG develops detection system to track stolen oil

From Magnus Eze, Abuja

Crude oil theft would soon be a thing of the past in Nigeria, as the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology has developed an indigenous biotechnology centre with the capacity to detect theft of crude oil products in the Niger Delta region.

Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, made the disclosure at the inauguration of the Advanced Bio-resources Laboratory and Livestock Feed Milling Complex at Odi, Bayelsa State.

He explained that the facility would help security agents to detect and trace stolen crude oil sources in the country.

He also said that the laboratory had the capacity to conduct genetic profile of indigenous plant and animal resources, with a view to preserving the nation’s rich bio-resources.

The minister, therefore, called on researchers to focus more on market-driven research and development, thereby closing gaps between research institutes, the organised private sector and entrepreneurs in the country.

“We are deploying technology as a tool for economic development with emphasis on job and wealth creation to fight hunger and poverty in our country, particularly at a centre such as this in Odi, with so much capacity in development in the agricultural sector,” Onu said.

In her remarks, director-general of the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Prof. Lucy Ogbadu, described the facilities as world-class, which forward-looking scientists could use to launch onto the global stage in the science and technology sector.

The director of the centre, Josiah Habu, while conducting the minister on a tour of the facilities, noted that the centre was established in 2003 by NABDA to extend its biotechnology research capacity to the rural areas and explore untapped bio-resources in communities.

Habu further said the laboratory was a boost to the agency’s mandate of promotion, coordination, and deployment of cutting-edge research and development processes and products for better socio-economic well-being in developing local capacity for research in Nigeria.