Oladele Alake, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, has said that the decision of the Federal Government to diversify from hydrocarbons to make the minerals sector a major contributor to Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) was the nation’s contribution to climate change drive.
Alake revealed this when he received a delegation of the Miners Association of Nigeria, led by their National President, Dele Ayanleke. The delegation comprised representatives of the VUKA group, co-organizer of the forthcoming Nigeria Mining Week and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, foremost accounting firm.
A statement signed by Alaba Balogun, head, Press and Public Relations of the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, said that the minister, while commending the association for its recommendations and consistent role in organising the Mining Week, said that Nigeria had been operating mono-cultural economy for long, noting that the shift to solid minerals was overdue.
“Our vision is to make solid minerals our pride, a major contributor to Nigeria’s gross domestic product. We will diversify from oil, to exploit it for survival of Nigeria. This is our own contribution to climate change,” he said.
The Minister emphasised that the Ministry was committed to making requisite policies that would sanitise and rejig the regulatory framework and to make it more conducive for local and foreign investors to play.
On the incursion of the second tier of government into mining, Alake stressed that the Federal Government would engage the state and local governments with a view to resolving surrounding issues within the ambit of law.
Speaking on securing the mining sector environment for maximum yield to the Federal Government, the Minister disclosed that high end technology would be deployed coupled with an inter-agency taskforce to arrest the menace completely.
He therefore sought partnership with the Miners Association of Nigeria to strengthen capacity in this regard for the growth and repositioning of the sector.
The National President of the Miners Association of Nigeria, Dele Ayanleke, earlier in a vote of confidence, expressed absolute assurance that the seven point agenda unfolded by the Minister of Solid Minerals under the renewed hope agenda of this present administration would consolidate and enhance the sector for maximum contribution to national development.
