13 Apr
Chronicles of one of my numerous visits. This time, it was to the beautiful town of Igbeti, located in the Northern part of Oyo state noted for its richness in mineral resources especially marbles. Unfortunately, these resources are not well tapped /undermined. However, I had a great time in the company of one of the sons of the soil, Honourable Abiodun Oni, the Chairman, Oyo State Mineral Development Agency who wasted no time in exploring and admiring the large deposit of the precious stones found beneath the land surface in Igbeti.
It was a state of awe for me as I found out there were lots of unscripted and under-recognized nature gifts in Oyo State using Igbeti (Marble City) as a reference. And often times, other developed countries streamline us to “the ones blessed with oil” meanwhile there are almost endless list of rocks, minerals, and gems available everywhere.
The amazing fun facts surrounding these rocks are that geologists look at a rock in detail, understand how it formed and what it is made from to give the rock a name just synonymous with how parents name their children to conditions and situations around their birth. Nature is really beautiful.
By knowing how a rock formed, some of us can tell a lot about the environment, the tectonic process, the history and the relationship of rock to other rocks in the area.
We are a land blessed with a lot of natural resources and we should be interested in developing and harnessing these numerous nature gifts before someone else does. I advise you to start with your immediate environment and expand your horizon through visiting places in Nigeria. It doesn’t have to be the other way round all the time if you know what I mean 😊
