WELCOME ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF MINES AND STEEL DEVELOPMENT

We are gathered here today for a historic event. The President and Commander-in-Chief himself is here with us to formally declare this year 2007 as MINES AND MINERALS YEAR - "MAMY 2007" 

Solid minerals are non-renewable resources and the Mining sector played major roles in the social and economic development of this nation in the past, and must play important roles now and in the future. An orderly and beneficial mineral development programme must therefore be put in place for present and future generations. 

New global demands and higher mineral commodities are being influenced by expanding economies like that of China and India. We must be able to gain economic benefits from this new global boom by ensuring that we harness the over 34 mineral types spread in over 450 locations all over the Federation. 

What are our real gains from a mining sector development within the global best practices spectrum? 

·        We want to create massive employment opportunities.

·        We want to diversify and improve the revenue base of the nation.

·        We want to create new wealth for the people of Nigeria.

·        We want to earn foreign exchange through the export of

·        processed minerals and achieve import substitution.

·        We want to sustain the growth in agriculture through the

·        development of agro-minerals. .

·        We want to generate electricity from Coal for industrial and

·        domestic use and produce briquettes as alternative to use of .

·        firewood.

·        We want to develop rural infrastructure to facilitate the exploitation

·        of mineral resources located in remote areas.

·        We also want to supply vital locally sourced mineral raw materials

·        to existing industries. 

To achieve these lofty goals the Ministry realized that good governance and transparency form the bedrock for the attraction of Foreign and Local investment. 

We embarked upon a reform process which include a policy shift that restricts the role of Government to that of a "regulatory-administrator" while the sector development is driven by the private sector as "owner-operator".

Government has also divested from commercial activities by pursuing the privatization of the Mining parastatals in the Ministry. 

Investment inflow to the mining sector are generally determined by Mineral endowment, Competitive legal and fiscal policies and Infrastructural support. 

We have developed a world class mining legislation, which contains noble provisions like

-        security of tenure.

-        Improved fiscal regime

-        Independent and transparent Mining Cadastre office and

-        Community Development Agreement amongst others. 

This Bill is before the National Assembly now and will be passed into law soon. 

A new Nigerian Geological Survey Agency has now replaced the former Geological Survey Department with enhanced capabilities and better funding. The Agency is generating world class geosciences information and data. These information are now available to the public in digital format. 

An Airbone Geophysical survey that will cover the whole country is on-going while groundwork have revealed new mineral finds in different parts of the nation. 

An aggressive and better focused promotional programme for our mineral resource potentials have been put in place and these potentials are being marketed all over the world.  

Part of our promotional activities is to host an International Mining Conference from 2^nd -3^rd  February, 2007. This is the first real effort to bring the mining world to Nigeria to promote our potentials. 

The President, through his personal efforts have made our promotional activities for investments much easier. Through the untiring efforts of Mr. President:

-       Nigeria has been exited from the London and Paris Club loans

-       Our anti-corruption war is yielding good results.

-       The national image laundering efforts of Mr. President have also paid off. We thank you Mr. President. 

To address the manpower needs of the emerging industry, the Jos School of Mines has been upgraded into a National Institute of Mining and Geosciences with a Centre of Excellence embedded in it. The Institute will commence training programmes this month. 

We have established a Mines Environmental Compliance Department to ensure that minerals exploitation is carried out according to global best practices. 

Our Ministry will work closely with State and Local Government Authorities to address the interest of host communities.  

Mr. President, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, we are here today to witness a major milestone in the development of our National Mineral Resources. 

On behalf of the Ministry, I welcome you all to this launching of the Mines and Minerals year. 

God bless you all.

Professor Leslye Obiora
Minister of Solid Mineral Development