MINISTER of Mines and Steel Development, Alhaji Mohammed Sada, has warned operators in quarry industry in the country to carry out their activities within the ambit of the law, failure of which he said government would not hesitate to wield its big stick on defaulters.

The Nigerian Content Act was signed into law on April 22, 2010, thus signaling the first most significant achievement of President Jonathan after his re-election. Two years down the line the story has been one of success and great expectations, as several indigenous players agree that the Act was long overdue.

A number of companies are hopeful of winning multiple bids from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, electricity distribution companies, DISCOs that have been put up for sale by the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE.

Azikel Group, a leading indigenous conglomerate with its operational base in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, is diversifying into the oil and gas industry, the aviation and agricultural sector. President of the Group, Dr. Eruani Azibapu Godbless in an interview with media men in Yenagoa, said his company is not only out to contribute its quota to the development of the state by providing employment for the teeming youths, but also exploring other frontiers such as going into large scale farming in line with the state government’s transformational agenda.

A rather intriguing game of muscle flexing has been quietly going on between President Olusegun Obasanjo and the governors of the nine oil-producing states over the actual quantum of naira that the 13 per cent derivation translates to. While the governors claim entitlement to 13 per cent of proceeds from total crude oil and gas production, the President insists on applying the derivation formula based on onshore production only, which in his estimation amounts to 60 per cent of total production.