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The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc. Musa
Mohammed Sada gave the assurance when the Director-General
of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group , Mr. Frank Nweke Jnr.
and his team paid him a working visit. The Director-General
was represented by Dr. Ikenna Nwosu during the visit.
Arc. Sada said that he was happy for the visit because the
outcome would provide avenues for doing things differently
and better for the development of the sector, adding that
partnering with them would be beneficial.
The minister said that the visit was as result of the
transformation agenda of the current administration through
the Public and Private sector Partnership that was yielding
positive results.
Arc. Sada assured the full cooperation, support and
participation of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development
in the proposed Nigerian Economic Summit Group Multi-
Sectoral Stakeholders Forum for the development of the
Minerals and Metal sector scheduled to hold before the end
of this year in Abuja.
The minister disclosed that since the commencement of the
reform programme in the sector from year 2007 to date a lot
of things have been done to make the sector come on stream
to make meaningful contribution to the development of the
nation’s economy.
According to the minister, some of the reform measures were
: the enactment of the Minerals and Mining Act of 2007, the
Minerals and Mining Regulations of 2011, restructuring and
creation of new departments and offices, formalisation of
the operations of Artisanal and Small Scale Miners,
generation and dissemination of bankable geological
information among others. He said that things were really
changing for the better in the sector.
Arc. Sada disclosed that Trade Corridors for the Minerals
and Metal sector would be created by the ministry in
collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Investment to
attract both local and foreign investors to increase the
sector’s contribution to the socio-economic development of
Nigeria.
He said that the ministry was collaborating with the
ministries of Power, Works, Environment, Water Resources and
Trade and Investment
to address the operational challenges in the sector.
The minister reiterated that the sector would create jobs
for millions of Nigerians in line with the transformation
agenda of the current administration through sustainable
exploration and exploitation of the various solid mineral
endowments across the 36 states of the country and the
Federal Capital Territory.
Speaking earlier, the Director- General of the Nigerian
Economic Summit Group, Mr. Frank Nweke Jnr. who was
represented by Dr. Ikenna Nwosu said that the essence of the
visit was to indicate their preparedness to partner with the
ministry for the development of the sector in line with the
transformation agenda of the current administration.
Mr. Nweke said that as a follow-up, they were seeking the
support, cooperation and participation of the ministry in
its proposed Multi-Sectoral Stakeholders Forum for the
development of the nation’s Minerals and Metal sector
scheduled to hold in Abuja before the end of this year.
The Director-General said that their organisation was to
partner with the ministry to attract major mining companies
and investors outside the country into the nation’s mining
industry. |
