The Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel, in conjunction with the Miners’ Association of Nigeria (MAN), On Monday 16th December, 2013 would convene for an interactive session for the sector’s stakeholders in Abuja. SANMI AYO writes that the forum offered an opportunity for the experts to review progress and policy effectiveness in the sector.
The interactive session/dinner of mining experts in the federal ministry of mining and steel and the miners association next week is a ‘long-awaited’ meeting for stakeholders in the sector. Apart from the presence of industry captains in the sector, participants very well would combine dine and business.
Alhaji Sani Sheu, (MAN President) says the event is especially remarkable for bringing together practitioners in the sector. He showered encomium on the minister of mines and steel development, Arc. Musa Mohammed Sada, who he said has brought unprecedented unity to the sector.
“There is now a united front of Nigerian miners and expatriates in the mining sector. The current minister is to be praised for the unity in the sector,” MAN President said, adding that the current unity will lead to the manifestation of the economic potentials of the sector. He assured that the Association will work to ensure that the sector continues to flourish.
He called for greater support for the administration, adding that the impact of various stakeholder deliberations of the past was instrumental to the current success.
The minister himself described the Miners Association of Nigeria as “a key partner of the ministry of mines and steel development in its efforts at developing the minerals and metals sector of the economy considering the roles members of this society play in the development and exploitation of the nation’s mineral resource endowment.”
While noting that the policy thrust of the association includes encouraging Artisanal and Small Scale Miners (ASM) to formalize their operations, and facilitating partnership amongst members with foreign investors through joint venture acquisitions, he said it also ensures cordial relationship between members of the association and the host communities where they operate.
This, Sada said, “re-enforces the collaborative partnership between the Association and the ministry,” adding that it is particularly so with the ASM department as it registers and formalizes the activities of ASM cooperatives aimed at ensuring total compliance with and applications of all stipulations and provisions of the Nigerian minerals and Mining Act, 2007 as well as achieving at least 30% compliance with global best practice by 2015.
He said it also helps in the achievement of the objectives of the minerals and metals promotions unit in investment promotion aimed at attracting investors into the sector to facilitate beneficial development of the country’s mineral endowment; and mines environmental compliance department as they supervise the development community development agreement aimed at establishing the social license to guarantee sustainable minerals and metals development, exploitation and marketing of the nation’s mineral endowment.
“Currently, mining in Nigeria is driven by members of this association and as such deserve our support so as to grow their activities,” the minister said, and emphasised that minerals and metals are so important to life that they are always in demand resulting in huge revenue generation for any organization and nation that pays great attention to their production.
Alhaji Sani Shehu said it was in recognition of these potentials that the government regards the minerals and metals sector as a critical component of its strategy in the diversification of the nation’s economy. The minister said this is clearly underscored in the transformation agenda of the current administration and Vision 20:20:20 as a catalyst in fostering wealth creation, employment generation, poverty reduction and the transformation of the rural economy.
He also hinted that the transformation agenda set specific targets for the ministry which includes achieving 30% compliance with global environmental best practices by 2015; achieving enhanced capacity to supply 50% skilled manpower required for all segments of the minerals and metals sector by 2015; developing coal as a fuel for coal fired power plants contributing 30% to power generation by 2015 among other uses.
The Agenda, the minister further explained, demands the achievement of total compliance with and applications of all stipulations and provisions of the Nigeria minerals and Mining Act 2007 or any subsequent legislative framework for the minerals and metals sector; facilitating the exploitation of bitumen to meet local demand and for export by 2015; and encouraging the establishment of smelting industries for metallic ores.
According to him, the goals cannot be achieved without the active participation and collaboration of members of the association, adding that the task of diversifying our economy is a collective one which calls for all hands to be on deck.
“It is in recognition of this that my ministry is promoting, in collaboration with state governments, One-Local-Government-Area, One-Mineral-Commodity-Programme. This project entails developing at least one mineral commodity or mineral related commodity in every local government area of the federation.
This will ensure that our mineral resources are developed thus creating the needed jobs and wealth for our citizens as well as producing mineral raw materials needed to increase capacity utilization of our local industries amongst other benefits.”
The minister charged the association to fully participate in the programme since a fully developed minerals and metals sector was a way to continuous prosperity, adding that “the recent approval of the roadmap for the development of the minerals and metals sector by the federal executive council makes this call more significant.”
President of MAN, Alhaji Sani Shehu who spoke on the economic potentials of the steel industry in Nigeria recalled that “the first commercial loan secured by Nigeria from foreign banks was through the mining sector,” adding that the country’s mining sector was even more viable now than it was before.
“The Transformation Agenda of the Jonathan administration reflects seriousness on the part of government. The government is actually repositioning the solid mineral sector to play a prominent role in jobs creation, revenue generation and GDP growth,” Shehu said.
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