Production Problems and Decline of Coal
Nigeria's coal industry suffered a blow in the 1950s when oil was discovered. Up until this point, the Nigerian Railway Corporation was the largest consumer of coal in the country. However, after the discovery of oil, the Railway Corporation began to replace its coal burning trains with diesel-powered engines. An additional negative impact came when the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria began converting its power generation equipment from coal to diesel and gas as well.
The Nigerian Civil War also negatively impacted coal production; many mines were abandoned during the war. Following the war, production never completely recovered and coal production levels were erratic. Attempts at mechanizing production ended badly, as both the implementation and maintenance of imported mining equipment proved troublesome, and hurt production. After the civil war, the Nigerian coal industry has not been able to return to its peak production in the 1950s.
| Year | Tons Produced |
|---|---|
| 1916 | 25,511 |
| 1920 | 180,122 |
| 1930 | 347,115 |
| 1940 | 318,594 |
| 1950 | 583,425 |
| 1960 | 565,681 |
| 1970 | 24,404 |
| 1980 | 118,317 |
| 1987 | 117,159 |
Read more about this topic: Nigerian Coal Corporation
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