…declines comment on BUA, Dangote

By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA- THE Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, Thursday, disclosed that the ministry has generated N3.5 billion as of November 2017.

Fayemi

Fayemi made this known during the ministry’s 2017 End of Year Media Briefing at its headquarters in Abuja, where he said the ministry surpassed the 2016 target with N1.2 billion.

The Minister, minister of State and directors appreciated the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mohammed Abass, who retired on Wednesday, during a send forth ceremony organised in his honour after serving for 35 years in the civil service, and described him as an achiever, a creative mind and team player who was passionate in taking the ministry and sector to the next level.

He also declined comment on the BUA Group and Dangote Group over a disputed mining site, and said the matter was in court and so no comment, but promised that in 2018 Ajaokuta Steel Company and Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria, ALSON, will be revived.

He said: “The year 2017 has been very eventful. Our exertions were centered on advancing the reforms begun in 2016, in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s mandate to us to reposition the mining sector as a frontier of this administration’s economic diversification agenda.

“Aligned with the ‘Roadmap for the Growth and Development of the Nigerian Mining Industry’ approved in August 2016, our aspiration remains to “build a world-class minerals and mining ecosystem designed to serve a targeted domestic and export market for our minerals and ores”. Our focus remains to improve the sector’s contribution to GDP, and to create jobs and economic opportunities for Nigerians.

“Accordingly, 2017 saw the commencement of the full implementation of the Roadmap. It is important to note that our work in the mining sector is very much in sync with the policies and programmes of this administration’s Economic Management Team.

“Consistently in 2017, the mining sector featured in the story of our journey to economic recovery and consolidation. For example, in reporting the GDP figures for second quarter 2017, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics indicated that the economy grew by 0.55 per cent, largely attributed to improved performance of not only the Oil and Gas sector, but other economic activities like mining. The mining sector grew by 2.24 per cent in that quarter.

“Consolidating on our feat of achieving a 300 per cent increase in revenue (royalties and fees) between 2015 and 2016, we steadily progressed in 2017, and as at November of this year, the sector had already surpassed the entire revenue of about N2 billion generated for the whole of 2016, with over N3.5 billion contributed to the federation account so far.”

Meanwhile, projecting the ministry’s action plan, the Minister said two bitumen plants will be set up to reduce importation for road construction, which will safe millions of Dollars in the construction industry.

He also stated that the ministry will ensure beneficiation of minerals, which will be refined before export, and the minerals and metals sector would be one of those to drive Nigeria’s recovery by growing sectoral contribution to GDP from N103bn (2015) to N141bn in 2020, at an average annual growth rate of 8.54 per cent.

“To create wealth, we recognize we need to improve on beneficiation as wealth only comes from creation. We recognize the vast value chain of mining as a potential source of entrepreneurial activities, wealth creation, and jobs creation in Nigeria”, he said.