National Water Resources Institute undertakes drilling machine fabrication

The National Water Resources Institute (NWRI) in Kaduna which is the research arm of the Water Resources Ministry has designed and produced home made drilling rigs that could be utilised for the drilling of boreholes.

The Minister of Water Resources, Sarah Reng  Ochekpe announced this on Thursday 12th of December, 2013 while commissioning two of such rigs produced by the Institute. “One of the rigs, she said is manually operated, while the other is a motorized rig to be operated by a mechanical device.

During the commissioning of the projects as part of the programme scheduled for the 22nd National Council on Water Resources Meeting held at the institute in Kaduna, the Minister commended the institute for conceiving the idea of behind the fabrication of the home-made drilling rigs.

She said that the workers in the National Water Resources Institute, Kaduna have spent a lot of time to design and fabricate the machines which are functional.  “We are happy about it; this government is committed not just to developing infrastructure but also to ensuring that we drastically reduce the level of unemployment and get our young people gainfully engaged and employed,” she averred.

“If we are able to empower the youths through the ownership of the rigs, it will go a long way to keep them busy and will also provide water for the people of Nigeria.”

Ochekpe promised to report the happening to the President appropriately as well as engage relevant Ministries and Agencies such as the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) on ways of assisting in its further manufacture and distribution for use in different communities. She urged the NWRI to keep up the good works, adding that it may take long before some of the things they are doing come to lime light but they should never give up.

She opined that for Nigeria to be technologically developed, all its research institutions should be busy and must be willing to come up with inventions that will be useful to the country. “Nigeria does not have to depend on external fabrications whose importation consumes a lot of hard currency. But, when we produce internally, it would be cheaper and readily available for use and with time, the quality and efficiency of the products would improve,” she explained.

Earlier in his remarks, the Executive Director of the Institute, Olusanjo Bamgboye   said that the institute would invite private manufacturers to mass produce the rig and make it available for use; saying people should be notified that the National Institute for Water Resources is the inventor of the home-made fabricated rigs.

In the highlight of the occasion, the Minister commissioned the Students’ Chalet Building to reduce the accommodation problems of the students who are to come from within and outside the country.