The Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society, (NMGS) has asked that potentials in the mining sector be adequately harnessed to engage young people in businesses, boost the nation’s economy and create wealth as allowing the sector to be operated in the crude form is a minus to the revenue generation drive of governments.
The President of NMGS, Professor Akinade Olatunji made the plea ahead of the Society’s 59th Annual International Conference and Exhibition, AICE which is scheduled to take place in Jos, Plateau State from the 17th to the 22nd of March, 2024 with the theme: “Emerging Global Perspectives, Trends and Sustainable Development of Minerals and Energy Resources.”
Professor Olatunji who spoke with journalists in Jos on Friday reiterated that indiscriminate mining activities is robbing the country of the much needed resources and called for the repositioning of the sector with relevant personnel and technology so the country could reap the gains embedded in coordinated mining activities.
He also called for the immediate address of the activities of the illegal miners through the strengthening and implementation of relevant laws.
According to him, “… There’s a difference between illegal mining and artisanal mining. Illegal mining is any mining done contrary to the prescribed laws of the land. It could be small scale, it could be medium scale. It could be large scale. Artisanal miners use crude implements.
“Addressing the issue of illegal mining is a national and international problem globally, anywhere you have mining activities there are always scavengers lurking around. In Nigeria, we have the law and it is very clear. The law must be implemented… We have said that one of the weak points that prevents the enforcing the law is the lack of adequate manpower. If the government will first strengthen the manpower, train the manpower and give them the mobility to be able to move, things would improve.
“We should stop paying lip service to this but put our money where our mouth is by investing heavily in retooling and equipping the Mining Inspectorate offices. We have so many people without jobs, if the government brings them on board, it will improve the mining sector and will stop these illegal activities because government is losing a lot money on a daily basis across the country. The government needs to employ technology to monitor the sector.”
He revealed that the event has other sub-themes as Unlocking the wealth creation potentials of the artisanal and small-scale mining subsector through innovative implementation of a robust governance structure; opportunities and challenges of renewable energy potentials in Nigeria; management of Nigerian water resources and flood vulnerability; geosciences perspectives to incessant road and building collapse in Nigeria; medical geology, geo-tourism and geo-heritage as new geoscience frontiers of wealth creation, among others and would feature paper presentations, excursion, quiz competition and others.
