Prof. Olugbenga O.Amu has tasked the Federal Government on how to create wealth through waste with a view to discovering cheaper stabilizers for less expensive road construction projects.This, he said would help in reducing “size of waste heaps causing environmental pollution around us.
”Professor Amu said this at the Federal University Oye-Ekiti at the institution’s 6th Inaugural Lecture entitled “Waste to Strength: The Experience of Stabilization in Road Construction.”According to Amu, if conducive environment for researches particularly in soil stabilization with non –conventional biodegrable materials”was created by the Federal government ,would no doubt pave the way for cheaper stabilizers for less expensive road construction projects which would help reduce “size of waste heaps causing environmental pollutions around us.
”Specifically, the inaugural lecturer, who eulogized FUOYE’S Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abayomi Sunday Fasina for turning around the face of the university within one year in office, insisted that unless an attention was given to researchers in the country, the nation may not attain greatness in science should it continue to rely on foreign expertise.For Instance, Prof Amu said a series of researches already carried out by him in Locus Bean Ash (LBA), Groundnut Shell Ash, Bone Ash Powder and in other fields, had shown that especially “locus bean ash which seeds were edible being commonly fermented and used for local food seasoning even though when the waste husk is burnt, it produces the locust bean ash which as a pozzolan, has been reported to have good potential.”On Groundnut Shell Ash (GSA), Prof Amu said “in a collaborative research with Adetayo et al (2021), we considered the potential of Groundnut Shell Ash (GSA) on lime stabilized lateritc soil.“Previous Studies had proved that GSA is a viable supplement in soil stabilization. A research conducted to investigate the potential of GSA for stabilization of Ekiti State soils, Nigeria, revealed that stabilization of soil with GSA contents brought about improvement in both the coarse particles of the soil through cementation and in mechanical strength.
”Accordingly, Prof. Amu,who focused his researches on exploring various alternatives materials for stabilization which were locally available, cheap and considered as waste materials in Nigeria, had conducted researches on various wastes, capable of being adapted as stabilizers for road works in Nigeria.
He said: “The research conducted by Amu et al (2010), studied the influence of palm kernel shell with the husk ash on cement stabilized soil. Palm kernel shell and the hush ask is a by-product in palm oil mill. After palm oil is extracted from the palm oil fruit, both palm oil husk and palm oil shell are burnt as fuel in the boiler of palm oil mill. Generally, after combustion, about 5% palm oil fuel ash, by weight of solid waste is produced (Sata et al, (2004). “The ash produced sometimes varies in color, from whitish grey to darker shade, based on carbon content in it. In other words, the physical characteristics of PKSHA is very much influenced by the operating system in the palm oil factory. In practice, PSKHA produced in palm oil mill (either local or mechanized mill) is dumped as waste, without any profitable returns. Either in the 20th or 21st century, PKSHA is still considered as a nuisance to the environment.
‘’Few researches aimed at providing a new use for PKSHA as a new low –cost mineral admixture which could be used in pozzolan cement have been carried out. All the efforts have been directed towards the use of this pozzolanic material in concrete, without studying its potential in cement stabilized lateritic soil for road construction.”
