Commend FG’s effort to contain spread of virus

By Gabriel Ewepu – Abuja

Miners under the auspices of Miners Association of Nigeria, MAN, Tuesday, drew Federal Government’s attention on intervention funds to cushion effects of the raging Coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic in the sector.

This was stated by the National President, MAN, Kabir Kankara, while speaking with Vanguard on a telephone interview in reaction to President Muhammadu Buhari’s national broadcast on Monday, which the lockdown was extended by another 14 days.

Kankara said his miners are feeling the global impact of the pandemic because their operations and investments were terribly affected, hence government’s attention and intervention are needed.

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He also pointed that in the President’s address of the nation yesterday, he gave attention to agriculture and other sectors, while the mining sector was not mentioned for support.

However, he commended the President’s move to contain the virus and said miners are in support due to their interaction with people who transact business with them from in and outside the country, which he had earlier given order for all mining activities to close down pending when the pandemic will be contained and halted.

He also called for inclusion of mining sector for government’s support, because it remains a major revenue generation alternative to the oil sector in terms of keeping the economy up and running, and so operators deserve government’s support, especially this trying times in order for them to meaningfully impact on the economy.

He said: “We appreciate government’s effort so far to contain the deadly Coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic in Nigeria. We could also see the results through various health agencies of the government.

“We are in support and have been sensitizing our members on the preventive measures given by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, and we pledge our support to the government in safeguarding lives of Nigerians.

“One factor that can catalyze accelerated restoration of the Nigerian economy post COVID-19 is mass production of goods and services. The Nigerian manufacturing sector depends mostly on solid minerals products for its raw materials. Therefore, the Federal Government must engage the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development in her economic recovery plan.

“Furthermore, the operators in the sector must be pragmatically assisted to increase their production capacity because some of the developed industrialized nations that are badly hit by the coronavirus would look up to Nigeria for raw materials for their industries. A ready example is China, which hitherto import a lot of lithium materials from Nigeria.

“The more Nigeria is able to produce and export the more jobs and wealth for her citizenry and revenue to her coffers.

“We want the government to support our members in the area of equipment leasing, working capital, capacity building to enlighten artisanal miners and improved infrastructure.”

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Meanwhile, the miners’ boss advised government on releasing the approved N5 billion mining fund by the President two years ago for the sector not to collapse under the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.

“So far nothing tangible has been given by government as palliative measures to our members. We appeal to the government to release the initial N5 billion approved and provided by President Muhammadu Buhari since two years ago to us.

“My advice to government is that all hands must be on deck to make sure that our citizenry is well protected and secured from the Coronavirus pandemic.

“Furthermore, financial institutions and other governmental bodies should team up to ensure that there is no food scarcity and then most importantly to fund the mining sector adequately to protect the sector from collapse which as at now is the only hope of Nigeria’s economic growth in the nearest future”, he said.

vanguard