To unlock the economic potential of the solid minerals sub-sector and spur rapid and beneficiary development of the country’s solid minerals, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Employment and Productivity, Senator Diket Plang, has advocated the timely establishment of a full-fledged University of Mining and Geo-Science in the country.
Senator Plang who represents Plateau Central in the National Assembly noted that all that is needed is to look into the existing Nigerian Institute of Mining and Geo-Science in Jos, Plateau State and see where the necessary legislation could be carried out to upgrade the institution while necessary infrastructure is provided to equip the institution to deliver quality services.
He disclosed that a bill for the establishment of such a University is before the Senate, having passed through the first reading, and awaiting the second reading and public hearing and urged all stakeholders to support the establishment of the University to add value in the mining and geoscience.
Speaking during his visit to the Nigerian Institute of Mining and Geo-Science in Jos, “The Director-General of the institute has taken me round; I have seen what is on the ground, and I am convinced that based on the structure and equipment on the ground, the institute may not have much problem transforming into a University of Mining.
“If established, the University will serve as a vehicle for rapid transformation of the Nigerian economy, while its products should be able to provide technical services in all aspects of mining engineering and its allied courses. The choice of Jos is not misplaced in view of the abundance of solid minerals in Plateau State.
“As a sponsor of the bill, I am here because of the capacity of the institute and also because of what the institute can offer Nigeria and Nigerians. I am interested in Nigeria and doing deep research in the area of minerals and geosciences. I felt that a great country like Nigeria is endowed with the mineral resources to deepen and upgrade the Institute of Mining into a university where mineral exploration will be maximized.
“I have initiated a bill to repeal the Act establishing the Institute of Mining to enable us to explore the possibility of upgrading it to a University of Mining. The content here is high, and most Nigerians may not know that there is enough manpower to galvanize it and run it effectively whenever it is upgraded to the status of a University.”
Earlier, the Director-General of the Institute, Professor Suleiman Hassan, said the institute has 23 standard pieces of equipment, adding that these and other facilities, including the structure at its permanent location, will be enough to move the institute to the level of a University.
He stated, “Though not 100 per cent, we are building on what we need to take off, and we have standard international equipment for analysis and identification of minerals. We also have space for us to take off. We are being patronized by Universities in this country in terms of training. A University is not built in a day; it starts gradually. By the time the government establishes this; the one that will be competing with us will be that of Takwa in Ghana.”
