Pulse.ng : Arewa youth withdraws call for the sack of Nigerian Mining Cadastre DG

By Our Reporter

The Arewa Citizens Watch for Good Governance, has withdraws its earlier call for either resignation or the sacking of the DG of Nigerian Mining Cadastre, Dr. Obadiah Nkom over the activities of illegal miners which had heightened the incidences of insecurity in the solid minerals-endowed Northern part of Nigeria.

The retraction was made In a statement issued to newsmen on Friday in Kaduna, by Comrade Mohammed Grema Adamu, Chairman of the Arewa Citizens Watch for Good Governance.

He noted that the earlier call for the sack of the DG, was made out of genuine concerns for the security of lives and property of the people and also, the socio-economic well-being of Nigeria.

He stressed that the group are now better educated on the role played by actors in the sector.

Mohammed Grema added that they now understood that there is a Mines Surveillance Task Force under the Mines Inspectorate in the Ministry (not Mining Cadastre Office) that is saddled with the responsibility of tackling issues of illegal mining and compliance by those with legal licenses to mine/explore.

He said the group now understood that it is the responsibility of the Mines Inspectorate/Task Force to ensure zero illegal activities in the sector.

"The Mines Surveillance Task Force has security agents such as NSCDC, among others,"he said.

According to him, Engr. Nkom has recorded a breaking revenue generation of over N8.9 billion to the Federal Government, adding that it was the highest in the history of the agency which accounted for 86 per cent increase and 50 per cent of the contribution of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development to the economy.

Explaining further, Mohammed Grema said that it was also on DG's credit that the digitalisation of all the office’ activities to migration to an online platform called eMC+ which was launched by the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria represented by the Vice President on 1st November 2022 for transparency and efficient service delivery to the public.

"The innovation is a testimony of naming the Agency in April 2022 as the best Agency of the Federal Government in the category of Digital Innovation Awards for the year 2022 by the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA),"he said.

He therefore called on the Ministry/Mines Surveillance Task Force to rise up to ensure that all activities are carried out in compliance with the law.

"This is not only important for revenue generation but also for the security of the nation. Whatever embarrassment caused by our previous call against the person of Engr. O. S. Nkom/Director-General(MCO) and the Mining Cadastre Office is regretted and was made without malice but out of genuine concern for the wellbeing of our Arewa community,"Mohammed Grema said.