The Nigerian Society of Mining Engineers (NSME) has commended the Federal Government’s efforts in transforming the mining sector in the country through various initiatives.
The President of the Society, Prof. Benson Jatau, gave the commendation on Thursday at the opening ceremony of the Society’s 20th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Gombe.
The theme of the AGM is “Repositioning the Nigerian Mining Sector for Accelerated National Development.”
Jatau said the Federal Government’s efforts in giving legal backing to the several reform initiatives in the mining sector are commendable and would help lay the foundation for the development of the sector.
He stated that the present administration has transformed the sector by de-risking the sector through generation of reliable geosciences data.
He said that the government had facilitated airborne geophysical survey of some selected states with high concentrations of mineral deposits potential.
These are “Establishment of N5billion single digit interest with Bank of Industry, formalization of artisan miners into cooperatives and upgrading small-scale operators into larger mineral enterprise.
“Upgrade of the Sigtim software and migration to the web base electronic Mining Cadastre for online mineral title management; funding Special Mines Surveillance Taskforce.
“Release of N30billion intervention fund from the Natural Resources Development Fund as well as direct investment in foundation infrastructure, amongst others.”
According to him, these initiatives are necessary for the reformation of the mining sector and national development.
Jatau also commended the National Assembly for making legislations to develop the mining sector, adding that the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act would go a long way in defining the way forward in the sector.
He stated that the implementation of the Mineral Act and Regulation is critical to ensuring credibility, confidence, trust and investment in the sector.
While reading the communique of the meeting, Mr. Tony Ojile, the General Secretary of NSME, further lauded government’s identification of the mining sector as key to driving national development and diversifying the economy.
The society, however, urged the Federal Government to halt child labour in the mining field through enforcement of International Labour Organization (ILO) resolutions on child labour. (NAN)
