Today we visit Ebonyi State known as the salt of the nation as part of our Make Nigeria Better series. Appropriately named, the state could easily survive off salt alone

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Ebonyi State is the smallest and least developed of the five in the southeast geo-political zone. I would argue that this gives it the most potential as it remains relatively untapped. With a population of about 3m and a landmass of 6,400 km2, Ebonyi is what I would call virgin territory

[2] Governor Francis Nwifuru is sitting on a potential gold mine as the Okposi and Uburu salt lakes in Ebonyi State could easily generate about $3bn in foreign exchange earnings annually if the sector is developed

[3] Ebonyi State’s nickname is Salt of the Nation because of the large salt deposits it on. Unfortunately, the state has not come to Nigeria’s rescue at a time when we badly need her to. Do you know that the global salt economy is expected to total $14.6bn in 2023 to $19.4bn by 2027?

[4] Governor Nwifiru must tell is how much of the world total of 335m tonnes of salt Ebonyi will produce and how much it will generate in foreign exchange earnings. Is he speaking to processors at the moment, seeking to woo them to Ebonyi State?

[5] Do you know that during the Nigerian Civil War, the Okposi Salt Lake supplied Biafra with all its needs? After a series of tests, scientists declared that the brine from Okposi Salt Lakes had the highest salinity among all the lakes in Eastern Nigeria. They built an industry close to the lake and taught local women new production techniques, including the use of alom to effect sedimentation of dirt before decantation and ultimate filtration

[6] Unfortunately, the now dilapidated industry still stands as a monument of the glory that was Biafra. What stops Governor Nwifuru from reviving it?

[7] In 1947 when India gained independence, she imported salt from the UK, but today, India is the world’s third largest salt producer with an annual output of 27m tonnes, accounting for about 9% of global production. The sector is also a major employer as there are about 11,799 salt manufacturers in India

[8] With most of the world’s oceans polluted with plastic, salt producers are actually looking for uncontaminated sources of raw materials and Ebonyi can easily provide this. I am throwing down a challenge to all my Ebonyi friends today. It is time for Ebonyians to stand up and be counted!

[9] Ebonyi is also an agricultural state and is a leading producer of rice, yam, potatoes, maize, beans and cassava. All these foods need to be processed, so cities like Abakaliki, Afikpo, Izzi and Ishielu need to be industrialised and become the location of major processing plants and industrial estates

[10] Ebonyi State also has substantial deposits of lead and zinc. These deposits are localised in the Enyingba area along the slightly deformed volcanic and sedimentary Cretaceous sequences, which is about 500m thick. With the current global demand for batteries as clean energy takes off, Ebonyi should be sitting on a gold mine. Where are the processors and manufacturers operating battery processing plants in Ebonyi State?