By Martha Agas
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, has tasked geoscientists on boosting development in the solid minerals sector.
Alake described them as critical in establishing proposed businesses of investors that Nigeria was wooing to the sector.
He made the call while speaking at the 13th induction ceremony of the Council of Nigerian Mining Engineers and Geoscientists (COMEG), on Thursday in Abuja.
He said that the government had been embarking on engagements both locally and internationally, aimed at attracting investors to the sectors, and would require the input of key stakeholders .
He said that geoscientists represented a critical part of the value chain of Nigeria’s exploration, extraction and processing of solid minerals, aimed at diversifying its economy.
He added that the country required their services to enable it to achieve its target of increasing its revenue profile.
”Investors both locally and internationally are coming to us in droves, making enquiries to bring in direct foreign investments into our economy.
” However, the criticality of your role comes to the fore because once these investors come in, you are the first set of public relations managers .
”Because they need scientists and mining engineers for feasibility studies, development, exploration activities or extraction, ” he said.
He urged them to play their roles efficiently to encourage the investors to engage in long term businesses in the country.
The minister urged them to also update their knowledge and skills, especially as their work is technical where new technology continuously evolves.
According to Alake, his ministry will not have any business with geoscientists not certified by COMEG as part of efforts to sanitise the sector.
The minister said there had been a global upsurge for energy transition, which required a shift from the use of traditional fossil fuel and dependency on oil hydrocarbons to green energy.
He said the situation required mineral deposits in order to sustain the transition for decades and centuries, which Nigeria possessed.
He said that President Bola Tinubu is determined to explore such minerals and reposition the sector to address overdependence on the oil industry.
The action, he further explained, would contribute to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP) which would facilitate infrastructure development.
Speaking earlier, the Registrar of COMEG Prof. Zacheus Opafunso, urged the inductees to be of good behaviour and adhere to professional ethics in their discharge of duties.
According to Opafunso, as part of COMEG’s mandate, they have visited tertiary institutions running programmes related to the extraction industry, to ensure compliance to standards and churning out of qualified graduates.
He said that about 50 per cent of such programmes had been accredited.
Also speaking, Prof. Akinade Olatunji, President of the Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society (NMGS) said that no graduate from unaccredited institutions would be registered with them to check quackery.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 28 inductees comprising of individuals and companies were admitted as members of COMEG. (NAN)
Edited by Chioma Ugboma
