NIPSS, Lai Mohammed’s firm partner to tackle challenges in mining sector

The National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) has partnered with Bruit Costaud (BC) to address the issues affecting the mining sector in Nigeria.

BC is a communications firm led by Lai Mohammed, former minister of information and culture.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Ayo Omotayo, director general of NIPSS, said the collaboration was towards the forthcoming roundtable summit.

The two-day summit will be held at the Abuja Continental Hotel on April 29 and 30, 2024.

Omotayo said the summit would bring stakeholders together to brainstorm on possible solutions to the issues faced in the mining sector.

He said part of the federal government’s effort is to ensure restructuring in the areas of blue and marine economies, and solid minerals.

“Mining, which is the extraction of the mineral resources which the country is endowed with from where they are deposited for the use of our needs, has been a low-hanging fruit for some time now,” Omotayo said.

“Our inability to take decisive action on this has led to ‘outsiders’ coming to explore and extract some of these minerals while illegal and unscrupulous elements capitalise on this to milk the nation dry.

“Of course, governments over the years have made tremendous efforts to address the problems and challenges of mining, however, there seems to be a lot more to be done for us to realise the full potential of this sector.”

‘MINING SECTOR NEEDS TO BE BENEFITED FROM’

Speaking further, the NIPSS  boss said Nigerians need to benefit from the sector, hence the significance of the summit.

“On this basis, the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, as the apex think tank for government and the country, in collaboration with an indigenous advisory and strategic communication organisation, Bruit Costaud, decided to contribute their quota towards the realisation of the mining objectives of Nigeria by organising a Roundtable Summit to address the myriad of challenges affecting the sector and to proffer useable solutions from there,” he said.

“The main objective of this Roundtable is to provide a platform for all stakeholders in the mining industry, not only to meet and discuss but to deliberate and reflect on the best strategies to achieve sustainable development of the sector. 

“The end goal is for the sector to reach its potential and to contribute meaningfully to the desire to improve the lives of the Nigerian citizens.”

Omotayo said the summit would look into policy and regulatory frameworks guiding the activities of the mining sector, check its impact on the environment, examine how to leverage modern technologies to enhance the activities of the sector and explore how to build local human capacity.

He said recommendations made would attract large-scale investment into the sector in other to move it away from being largely artisanal by getting foreign direct investment; as well as ensuring the buy-in of citizens and communities where mining activities take place.

On his part, Mohammed said he decided to venture into mining due to its significance to national development, adding that the president has identified it as one of the sectors that can be used to turn around the economy.