Nigeria can make a Fortune from Mining \u2013NSE<\/p>\n
Zainab Tanimu- Kaduna, NIGERIA<\/p>\n
The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) Kaduna state branch has raised concern over the underutilization of the mining sector which it said can be of great fortune to the nation.<\/p>\n
This concern was raised during its monthly review meeting held to find out where Nigeria has gotten it wrong with particular reference to the mining sector. Nigeria it said has not been making good use of it endowed resources spread across the country.<\/p>\n
Commercial quantity of mineral resources it argued are left untapped of which would have been a great fortune for the country. It is high time Nigeria gives attention to the mining sector which is of international value its long gestation period notwithstanding.<\/p>\n
The society has however commended the federal government\u2019s diversification program meant to give impetus to some areas which hitherto were neglected. It said Nigeria got it wrong in 1972 with the introduction of the indigenization policy which stipulated a sharing formula whereby both the foreign investors and indigenes of such areas had to share whatever accrued from the mining. Such was said to be the reason why foreign investors had to seek elsewhere for a greener pasture. The federal government\u2019s review of the mining law they see as a step in the right direction.<\/p>\n
Speaking during his paper presentation titled, \u201cEnvironmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Of a Surface Mining Project\u2019, Engr. Ben Nwode enumerated some challenges the country is going through which includes the issue of shortage of manpower and that of processing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Nigeria, we have only two universities that offer mining as a course: Federal University of Akure and University of Jos that started few years ago. Luckily we now have Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria that is starting next session. Although we have Kaduna Polytechnic and a few others offering the course.<\/p>\n
Lamenting he said, \u00a0Nigeria does not have plant to process what we explore into finished goods which is described as a setback.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are selling our resources raw which have not helped us to maximize our fortunes in mining. What this means is that, government needs to support people who can process either finish or semi-finish goods.<\/p>\n
“Then, discovery of petroleum in commercial quantity also dragged our mining strength backward. Also, metal market that collapsed sometimes ago as well as inadequate mining infrastructure and expertise are partly responsible for our predicament”.<\/p>\n
The strengthening of institutions the mining expert maintained would go a long way in injecting the needed vitality to the sector. He had suggested government strengthening institutions such as the National Steel Raw Materials Exploration Agency, National Iron Ore Mining Company, Metallurgical Research Development Centre, Jos, Metallurgical Training Institute and the entire steel mill in order that the nation can move forward.
\nAccording to Engr. Ben, “If these suggestions are added to whatever plan the government may have in this direction, you can imagine the number of people that will be employed in its value chain and other development that will naturally creep in. We just have to move from where are presently to where we ought to be in the committee of progressive countries”, he narrated.<\/p>\n
The Chairman, Kaduna branch of NSE, Engr. Abdulrasheed Babalola while fielding questions from journalists had stressed on the relevance of the topic saying, for any infrastructural development to take place, it is expected that an engineer does the environmental impact assessment of the vicinity where the infrastructure is to be located in order to ensure that the development does not affect both the human population and animals within the location.<\/p>\n
To ensure compliance, therefore, government he said must make it mandatory that anyone intending to carry out any developmental project must first and foremost; have a proper assessment of the place.<\/p>\n
\u201cProper assessment must be taken so we don’t use development to affect the habitat which may turn to be problematic for us in the future.
\nFor example, effect of dessert encroachment is already here with us and we need to respect the nature to guide against its effect which is usually devastated”, he emphasized.<\/p>\n
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Nigeria can make a Fortune from Mining \u2013NSE Zainab Tanimu- Kaduna, NIGERIA The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) Kaduna state branch has raised concern over the underutilization of the mining sector which it said can be of great fortune to the nation. This concern was raised during its monthly review meeting held to find out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":454,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"yoast_head":"\n