Solid mineral can raise national GDP, says minister

From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

The Minister of Mines and Steels Development Arch Musa Mohammed Sada has said the solid minerals if properly managed and tapped can raise the National Gross Domestic Product to a level that will alleviate poverty in the country. He stated this during a one-day sensitization workshop of Nigeria Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) held in Kaduna Yesterday.

 Arch. Sada added that the mines and iron and metal sector has full potential in terms of generating massive employment for Nigeria population and that is why the Federal Government through the ministry has put in place legislative and institutional instruments necessary for the sustained and orderly development of the sector.

“Central to these initiatives include; recognizing the role of government as administrator-regulator and the private sector as owner-operators, enactment of a new mineral and mining ac, as well as requisite mineral and mining regulations.

“These institutional reforms that are helping in driving the sector are the privatization of moribund government parastatals, enhancement of geoscientific data generation capabilities, establishment of

autonomous mining cadastre agencies for mineral title administration and establishment of policy departments-mines environmental compliance (MEC).

 Arch Sada stressed that the state of the art equipment have been installed at the laboratory to meet the need of the operators at all levels and called on miners to avail themselves for this opportunity.

 In his own remarks, the Director-General of Nigeria Geological Survey Agency, Mr. AN Nwegbu said geological survey all over the world provide government and policy-makers, industry and the public at large information and data pertaining to geological maps, mineral exploration, mining, building and construction and that has been the mandate of the agency for the past 95 years.

 According to him, the agency operation has been so strategic to the material wellbeing of the country as a result which most mineral discovery in Nigeria can be attributed to the activities of the agency, this include; the Jos (Tin fields), Enugu (coal fields) and gold-bearing rocks in Sokoto, Zaria, Ilorin, Calabar and Ilesha.

 Speaking earlier the National President of Nigeria Mining Association Engineer Sani Shehu  said the establishment of the Geo sciences Laboratory is a welcome development as it will help miners to test their product instead of taking it to some West African countries or Europe and this will in a long way save a lot of funds for them.