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To fast track the ongoing reforms in the
minerals and mining sector of the economy, the Ministry of
Mines and Steel Development has announced a number of
changes in the Ministry.
Sheikh Musa Goni, seasoned Mineral Processing
Engineer and product of the prestigious Imperial College
London, University of London and Camborne School of Mines,
has been named the Director, Mining Cadastre Office. He was
until this appointment, Director of the Mining Inspectorate
Department of the Ministry, and he is taking over from
Professor Ibrahim Garba who has returned to the Ahmadu Bello
University Zaria at the end of his two-year secondment.
In appointing Goni, it is expected that his
vast experience as a very distinguished process engineer,
and extensive knowledge of challenges in the sector would
help in sanitizing the licensing regimes in the country.
Having manned very successfully one of the most strategic
department in the ministry, the Mining Inspectorate
Department, and with his vast knowledge of the sector and
the challenges posed by the licensing system in the past,
government expects Goni to sanitize the system and
reposition the department as a key driver of the sector.
The government is already putting finishing touches to the
Mining Regulations and the new bill, the Mining Cadastre
Bill is among three other bills being finalized by the
government to complete the legal and institutional framework
to pave the way for sustainable and the enduring growth in
the sector.
Three major conditions have been spelt out
for prospective applicants for Cadastre Licenses in the
Minerals and Mining Act, 2007. They are financial capacity,
technical capacity and the presentation of a minimum work
obligation plan. This is to rid the sector of speculation
and black marketing which have been the bane of the
industry, standing between the country and genuine
investment in the sector by foreign and local investors.
The principle of use it or lose it as
enshrined in the Act will be strictly enforced, and Goni as
an active participant in the evolution of the new
institutional and policy regime, will be expected to bring
the spirit and letters of the reforms to bear on his new
assignment.
Aged 52 years, Goni hails from Borno State .
He obtained his first Degree in Mineral Engineering in 1979
from the Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter ,
England , between 1976 to 1979, and the second Degree from
Imperial College , University of London 1981-1982.
He began his career in 1980 as a Mining
Engineer with the National Mining Corporation, Jos and rose
steadily in the organization to become Senior Mineral
Process Engineer 1982 to 1985, Principal Mineral Process
Engineer 1985 to 1987; Assistant Chief Mineral Process
Engineer 1987 to 1990 and General Manager, Corporate
Infrastructure and Projects, 2000.
A Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Mining
Engineers, Goni is a Member of many professional bodies.
Member, Nigerian Society of Engineers, Member Council of
Regulation Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and Member,
Council of Mining Engineers and Geosciences (COMEG).
To succeed Goni in the Mining Inspectorate
Department is Alhaji A. Y. Ibrahim, a seasoned Mining
Engineer and presently, Director, Metallurgical Inspectorate
Department of the Ministry.
Aged 51, the new Director of Mining
Inspectorate Division, Engineer Abubakar Yaro Ibrahim hails
from Karim Lamido Local Government Area of Taraba State,
holds a Masters of Science Degree from the prestigious
Imperial College of Science & Technology and Medicine,
University of London , after a first Degree at Camborne
School of Mines, Cornwall , England , between 1976 to 1979.
His insatiable appetite for knowledge took
him to University of Lagos where he bagged an Advanced
Diploma in Business Administration with Distinction in 1998,
and at the Imo State University where he crowned his string
of outstanding academic record with an MBA with Distinction
in 2001.
He returned to the Federal Public Service in
1991 as Assistant Director in the defunct Ministry of Power
and Steel.
He is a Member of institute of Mining and
Metallurgy , England , Member Council of Regulation
Engineering in Nigeria . He has at different times been
appointed into several Boards of Parastatals. They include:
Member, Raw Materials, Research and Development Council
(2005 till date), Member, National Steel Raw Materials and
Development Agency, Kaduna (2005-2007).
Also joining the Management of the Ministry
is an Associate Professor of Metallurgy, Ahmadu Bello
University, Dr. Ibrahim Abdu Madugu, who is also presently
serving as the Secretary of the Interim Management Committee
on Ajaokuta Steel Company and the National Iron –Ore Mining
Company ,Itakpe set up by the Federal Government after the
cancellation of the concession with Global Steel
Infrastructures Limited, earlier in the year. He is taking
over from A. Y. Ibrahim, as the new Director, Metallurgical
Inspectorate, Research and Development.
Madugu, aged 51, hails from Nasarawa Local
Government, Kano State.
He trained at the famous Saint Petersburg
Technical University Leningrad Moscow for his undergraduate
programme obtaining his Doctorate Degree in 1984 in
Industrial Engineering.
Apart from a remarkable career in the
academia, Madugu has served as Managing Director, ABU
Consult Nig Limited and as Consultant to various federal
establishments and institutions.
They include:-
Bureau for Public Enterprise;
The Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund (PTF);
National Metallurgical Development, Centre;
The Jos Steel Rolling Mill;
Pipeline and Petroleum Marketing Company;
The African Iron and Steel Association, and
the UNDP/UNIDO.
Mr. Obiora
Chukwuka Azubike hails from Nnewi North Local Government
Area of Anambra State. He has a Masters of Science Degree in
Exploration Geophysics, from the University of Ibadan and an
LLB from the University of Abuja. He holds a first Degree in
Geology from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State.
He joined the
Federal Service in 1979 as Geophysicist II and in 2004; he
was deployed as the Assistant Project Coordinator of The
Sustainable Management of Mineral Resources Project (SMMRP)
in Ministry of Mines and Steel Development. He was promoted
Deputy Director while in SMMRP in 2006.
The
Sustainable Management of Mineral Resources Project (SMMRP)
is a World Bank/IDA funded project aimed at:
- increasing
the government’s long term institutional and technical
capacity to manage Nigeria’s mineral resources in a
sustainable way
-
establishing a basis for poverty reduction and rural
economic renewal in selected areas of the country through
the development of non-farm income generating opportunities
through small-scale and artisanal mining, and to diversify
away from oil sources of income.
He has since
attended various courses and workshops, some of which
include: Result based Monitoring and Evaluation (SETYM
Canada), Management Strategies (RIPA London), Global
Perspectives on Disaster Management (Abuja, Nigeria),
Prospectors Developers Association of Canada Conference
(Toronto, Canada), Community and Small Scale Mining
Conference (Bahar, Brazil).
He has been
appointed Acting Director, Artisanal and Small Scale Mining
Department of the ministry.
Meanwhile, the Ministry has announced a new
Department of Planning, Policy Analysis and Monitoring. Alhaji
Rabiu Alkali, (Deputy Director Supplies), has been named
Acting Director. |
