MINER SEEKS INCREASED FG'S ATTENTION ON SOLID MINERAL SECTOR

By NBF News

A mining engineer and Managing Director, Glister Success Limited, Mr. Babatunde Anjorin, has called on the Federal Government to explore the country's solid minerals in order to reduce its reliance on petroleum.

Anjorin said this in an interview with our correspondent on Thursday in Lagos.

While warning of the imminent danger in near-absolute dependence on oil, the renowned industrialist said the country had so many resources, which it had ignored to the detriment of oil.

He said, 'There is an inherent danger in any mono economic nation, which solely relied on a particular resources. Nigeria is relying so much on petroleum production. When there is a drop in the price of oil, or when there is a drastic high cost of oil production, the country's earnings will drop drastically.

'It is high time we looked at our solid minerals sector, especially the high metallic minerals like, gold, copper and even uranium. What we need to do is to invite multi-national investors into this area.'

Anjorin noted that the reforms carried out in the sector during the former President Olusegun Obasanjo administration and urged government to develop the sector on the legal platform already established in 2007.

He said, 'This act has given more hope for securing investment of any potential investors, and with this, things can no longer be muddled up in this sector.

'I think in the nearest future, we will get very good result from this sector if we shift our attention from petroleum and also focus more on the solid mineral resources sector,' he said.

On Vision 2020, Anjorin urged the Federal Government to quickly implement the planned privatisation of the power sector, as availability of electricity remained crucial to attaining the vision.

He said, 'The solution is complete privatisation of the power and energy sector, as we did in the telecommunications sector. The fact remains that for us to get out of this mirage, the best option is to privatise this sector of our economy.

'The International Monetary Fund recently rated Nigeria as one of the three fast growing economies, especially in Africa.

'If we provide conducive environment for investment, by providing necessary infrastructure, security and excellent policies, we will even surpass the benchmark of Vision 2020, which I strongly believe is achievable.

'The essential part of the planning in the achievement of Vision 2020 goals is to have a very sound and robust infrastructural development. Once we have this in place, we then invite credible investors and also encourage our local investors, so that they can do more in their little capacity.'