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ALAKE BRIEFS SENATE SOLID MINERALS COMMITTEE, CANVASSES DATA

…Committee Chairman, Ekong Sampson assures Senate will partner for solid minerals development to diversify economy

By Samuel Udoma

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Solid Minerals, Senator Ekong Sampson has assured that the Senate will partner with the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development to further develop the sector, boost and diversify the economy.

Senator Sampson stated this when the Senate Solid Minerals Committee held an interactive meeting with the Honourable Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, earlier today at the National Assembly.

The mood was very warm and convivial between the Senate Committee and Minister Alake, who came with a strong retinue of entourage, including the Permanent Secretary, Dr Grace Ogbe, and a number of Directors.

Earlier on arrival, Dr. Alake had paid a courtesy visit on Senator Sampson in his office, where they compared notes and enjoyed banters. Both Sampson and Alake share a rich background in journalism. Both men spoke with depth and range during the interchanges.

At the interactive session, Senator Sampson, flanked by his Vice Chairman, Senator Mustapha Khabeeb, and other members of the Committee, said that God in his benevolence had blessed Nigeria with enormous minerals buried in the earth around us, noting that with proper legislation, funding and collaboration, the sector can provide the country with the much needed diversification and revenue.

Senator Sampson, affirming the sentiments of other members of the Committee who spoke, reassured that the 10th Senate will give the Ministry adequate support to help unbox the true potentials of the nation’s solid minerals sector.

Earlier in his briefs, Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, while interacting with the Senate Committee, canvassed the deployment of elaborate geoscience data to fast-track the growth and deepen investment in the sector.

Alake reeled out a number of interventions and programmes being laid out as areas of priorities for the Ministry. Some of these include establishment of Nigerian Solid Minerals Company Limited, joint venture with mining multinationals, integration of illegal miners into artisanal cooperatives, reinvigoration of Mines Surveillance Task Force and Policing, among others.

After the interaction session, both Senator Sampson and Dr. Alake joined at the Appropriations Committee’s budget defence and evaluation for Ministries and MDAs. The session was headed by the Chairman of Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Solomon Adeola.