By Muhammed Nasiru
The member representing Ankpa, Omala and Olamaboro Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives and Chairman of the House Committee on Steel Development, Rep. Abdullahi Ibrahim Ali Halims has commended the Federal Government for giving attention to the mines and steel sectors as he urge experts to intensify efforts towards achieving the best science and engineering practices in mineral processing.
The Federal Lawmaker disclosed this during the twentieth(20th) Annual General Meeting/International Conference of the Nigerian Society of Mining Engineers (NSME) in Gombe, North East, Nigeria with the theme, “Repositioning the Nigerian Mining Sector For Accelerated National Development”.
Rep. Halims, who is also a certified colliery engineer with over ten years field experience, noted that Nigeria is endowed with different mineral deposits spread across all the local governments of the Federation but have remained largely underdeveloped due to Nigeria’s past preoccupation with the oil industry, adding that advanced science and engineering practices in minerals processing is the only way towards harnessing this God given wealth.
Furthermore, he said the measure of a country’s development and civilization depend largely on the utilization of its minerals in different fields and applications, hence harnessing mineral resources optimally is a potential which has the capacity to contribute greatly to Nigeria’s local and foreign exchange earnings, thereby boosting the country’s economy and annual gross domestic products (GDP).
He commended the Federal Government on the renewed attention and commitments to the Mines and Steel sector, with policies and programmes such as Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP) and the recently launched Mineral Road Map geared towards harnessing the abundant mineral resources in the country.
Halims equally encouraged the Federal Government to fully implement these reforms to achieve the desired economic benefits, especially the benefits that can be derived from the Ajaokuta Steel Company.
Earlier, while declaring the three days conference open, the National President of the Nigerian Society of Mining Engineers (NSME), Engr. Dr Ebenezer Aliu Damisa, FNSME, called on Governments, at all level, to provide adequate infrastructure and human capital for the effective exploration and exploitation of Nigeria’s mineral resources and by extension enable value-addition to derive maximum benefits.
