A history of Nigerian Coal Production from 1909-2010

Abstract

Coal is one of the most important consistent fossil fuels available in the Nigerian energy sector. However, the path taken to develop and manage Nigeria’s coal industry is ridden with confusion of interests. With over 22 coal fields spread over 13 states of the Nigerian federation, the nation has continued to witness erratic power outages and abysmal electricity supply. This study attempts to diagnose the production trend of the coal industry in Nigeria with the aim of discovering some of the challenges that have led to its redundancy in the years after independence. The study also traces the historical development of the coal industry and the reasons responsible for its low production. The negligence on the part of the federal and state governments in the areas where this mineral resource is found in abundance has led to an almost complete collapse of the industry. The study concludes that a lot could still be done to ameliorate the fallen state of the industry such as the employment of specialist mining engineers, adequate provision of funds and the adoption of advanced technology.