Miners in Mineral Resources in Nigeria, Thursday, said the sector holds a huge potential in contributing to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, and capable of generating enough foreign exchange if there is proper synergy and partnership between the Federal Government and private miners.
The Chairman, Board of Trustees, (BoT), Miners Association of Nigeria, (MAN) Sani Shehu, spoke at the 2023 delegates election of new executive members of the body in Abuja.
He said harnessing mining potential is another sure way the Federal Government can earn more forex especially in the face of the rising inflation in the country where a dollar now goes as high as N900.
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He said, “Mining is a very critical sector more than ever before and government is under serious pressure as to source it’s forex but unfortunately as Nigeria, a dollar as at yesterday is N900 and I think this is very sad and if you look at the world economy there is no option of strengthening the naira than to source for more dollars and happily more of these mineral resources are dollar earn product and very few are naira source.
“Therefore, mining sectors and miners as operators have a critical role to play in term of generating foreign exchange and therefore we have know how important we area and work close with government to give us all the support we want.
Also, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Mine and Steel Development, Dr Mary Ogbe, represented by Engineer Okhunoya Sunday Onah of mining Inspectorate department in the ministry, lamented that mineral such such columbite, tantalite, Lead/Zine and Tim are exported and others are exported raw to Asian countries and Europe at ridiculous prices without value addition adding that it has not help technological and industrial growth of Nigeria.
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He, therefore called on the association to encourage research and development that could encourage value addition to most of the mineral that the nation is endowed with.
The newly sworn-in president of the association, Dele Ayanleke who scored 137 votes to defeat his rival, in his acceptance speech promised to re-engineer, reposition and restructure the body even as he noted that the association over the years has lost it “goodwill and became a pariah in the scheme of industry reckoning”.
Other members of the excos who were administered oath of office includes the National Secretary, Suleiman Arzuka, National Publicity Secretary, Fatai Jimoh, Nation Secretary, Sulaiman Liman, Vice President, Ibrahim Danyaro, Assistant Secretary, Shehu Dinawa and Financial Secretary, Tope Adebanjo