Geology and Mineral Resources of Nigeria

Contains details on the geological units of Nigeria and the associated mineral resources. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 discusses the geology of the crystalline rocks and their regional distribution while the sedimentary basins constitute the subject of Part 2. Part 3 takes the mineral resources of Nigeria one on one, their geological environment, mode of occurrence, localities and where possible the reserves estimation. Thereafter, an account of the previous and current mining policies (including that of petroleum) of the Nigerian government is given and goes ahead to list some specific investment opportunities in the solid minerals sector.

Nuhu Obaje is currently Professor of Geology at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nigeria. He was formerly the Dean of the Faculty of Natural & Applied Sciences and the Head of the Department of Geology & Mining (Jan. 2004 – April 2008). He is a member of the Governing Council of the institution. As Dean of the Faculty of Natural & Applied Sciences, he supervised the accreditation of all the courses in the Faculty and was instrumental to several collaborations and university-industry partnerships.

Professor Obaje was selected by the Alfried Krupp Foundation in 2007 as one of five Senior Research Scientists selected on a world-wide competition for scientists who have made significant contributions to scientific research in their specialized fields to spend time at the Alfried Krupp Institute for Advanced Studies in Greifswald, Germany to complete a selected major research work.

Professor Obaje was born on the 15^th December 1961 at Ajaka in Igalamela Local Government Area of Kogi State (Nigeria). He attended Barewa College Zaria in the period from 1974 to 1979 and obtained the West African School Certificate (WASC/GCE) in Division One in June 1979. He later graduated B.Sc. (2^nd Class Upper Division) and M.Sc. Geology from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1984 and 1987 respectively; and the Ph.D. Geology from the University of Tuebingen (Germany) in 1994.

Professor Obaje was later awarded the Royal Society of London postdoctoral fellowship in petroleum geochemistry at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland in 1997; the German Academic Exchange Service (re-invitation) postdoctoral fellowship in biostratigraphy at the University of Tuebingen in 1998; and the Alexander von Humboldt research fellowship in organic geochemistry and organic petrology at the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources in Hanover/Germany in 2002-2003. (for one year) and 2005 – 2006(for 3 months). Professor Obaje also held research tenures in the Exploration Departments of Chevron Nigeria Limited, Lagos (1997-1998) and the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited in Portharcourt (2000-2001). He has served as a Lecturer at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1985 – 1997) and was Associate Professor at the Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi up to December 2003. He also served as an Assistant Director and Special Assistant to then Executive Chairman and former Head of Service (Alhaji Adamu Fika) at the Federal Character Commission of the Presidency in Abuja briefly between 1999 and 2000, before leaving for Shell.

Nuhu was a recipient of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists’ Grants-in-Aid (maximum cash awardable) for parts of his Ph.D. research on the petroleum geology of the Benue Trough and was two times first prize award winner for the best papers presented at the 28^th and 33^rd annual conferences of the Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society (NMGS) in 1993 and 2000 respectively (which respectively entailed a one week visit to Elf Petroleum laboratories in Pau, France). His biography is cited in the 19th edition of Marquis Who’s Who in the World of 2002. He was also nominated by the American Biographical Institute as Man of the Year for 2004.

Professor Obaje was a member of the Nigerian government Presidential Committee on Oil and Gas Sector Policy Reform for the National Council on Privatization (2000 – 2008). He has been a resource person on several occasions to the Geological Survey of Nigeria Agency on the review of different segments of the geological map of Nigeria. He is also a member of the Steering Committee and Assessor of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) Annual Research Grants Competition programme and resource person in the Peer Review of the PTDF Professorial Chair Endowment programme. He has served as assessor for professorialappointments in several Nigerian universities including ABU-Zaria, University of Ado-Ekiti, FUT-Minna and University of Jos. He has been a longstanding reviewer for scientific papers in the Journal of Mining & Geology, Global Journal of Geological Sciences, Petroleum Training Journal, African Journal of Microbiology Research, etc; and has himself published over 50 articles in reputable international journals. He has served and still serving as external examiner to many Nigerian universities for undergraduate and postgraduate examinations in the geosciences. Widely traveled and cosmopolitan, Nuhu has visited Algeria, Belgium, Benin Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Niger Republic, Qatar, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Tunisia, United Kingdom, and the United States of America.