MSMD To Uphold Professionalism, Eliminate Quackery

Georgina Humphrey

Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Oladele Alake says efforts are been intensified to uphold professionalism in Nigeria’s Extractive Industry by addressing and eliminating quackery.

Dr. Alake, stated this at the 13th Induction Ceremony and Accreditation Certificate Presentation organized by the Council of Nigeria Mining Engineers and Geoscientists, COMEG, in Abuja

According to Dr. Alake the Federal Government has Tightened the Noose On Unregistered Mining Professionals.

The minister who stressed that the aim was to curb the menace of unregistered mining engineers, noted that henceforth proposals for solid minerals investment from members of the Council of Nigerian Mining Engineers and Geoscientists (COMEG), would be in recognition of their critical role in the sector.

Dr. Alake stated that all reports coming to the ministry must bear the COMEG stamp while also affirming that only COMEG certified professionals will be recognized by the federal government.

Dr. Alake said the Ministry will only attend to technical proposals for licensing and related procedures under the mining law with the seal of COMEG.

The minister lauded the institution and its Director-General, Professor Opafunsho, for training qualified mining engineers and geoscientists, emphasizing that the contribution of COMEG to the technical expertise of the mining sector cannot be overemphasized.

“Your role in the value chain can not be underemphasized because you are professional engineers and geoscientists. These are critical elements needed in the reactivation efforts of the solid
minerals sector” he added.

“So, if we do not get it right from your level, Nigeria can’t get it right at the tertiary level, exploration and exploitation or even get any substantial revenue from the sector. Distinguished graduands and inductees, I’m very happy for you. Congratulations” Alake added.

The Minister charged the inductees to avail themselves of constant knowledge to keep up with new innovations, stressing that having been highly trained, the criticalities of their training will be put to bear on the success of President Bola Tinubu’s vision of enabling the mining sector to play a crucial role in contributing significantly to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria.

Dr. Alake admonished the inductees that COMEG relies on them to shore up its reputation whilst the ministry depends on their input to manifest the metrics of marketing the sector to global investors.

“Nigeria needs your expertise at this critical juncture, not only to do it proud, but to enable her to achieve its objectives of increasing the revenue profile, reforming the mining sector, and expanding gross domestic product to make life more abundant for all Nigerians” the Minister emphasized.

Edited By Grace Namiji