President Muhammadu Buhari has officially accepted the resignation of Dr. Kayode Fayemi who until on Wednesday was the Minister of Mines and Steel Development.
Fayemi who stated this on Wednesday at a validetary press conference revealed that the President accepted his resignation to enable pursue other political interests.
He added that it is with a deep sense of pride about his contributions to the landmark achievements which he and his team have achieve in the sector and thus he is transitioning out with head held high.
Fayemi also said that his overall goal was to ensure the sector contributes optimally to the building of a strong and virile economy that supports human development goals.
Listing his score card to members of the media, Fayemi revealed that he began with developing a Roadmap for the ministry which was approved by the Federal Executive Council on August 31, 2016.
He added, โThe ministry sought for and obtained approveal for N30bn (approx. $100m) intervention fund from the Federal Government, partly to help provide cheap loans and grants to industry participants as well as for directly investing in foundation infrastructure.
โWe also secured support from the World Bank for the funding of the Mineral Sector Support for Economic Diversification (MSSED or MinDiver) program, a critical component of which is to provide technical assistance for the restructuring and operationalization of the Solid Minerals Development Fund, which would make finance available to ASM operators through micro-finance and leasing institutions.
โSimilarly, we have reached an advanced stage in assembling a $600M investment fund for the sector, working with the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, the Nigerian Stock Exchange and other financial institutions.
โWe have facilitated payment and the release of the results of the aeromagnetic survey of the whole country carried out since 2006, but which had not been released due to non-payment.
โ Our Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) has undertaken additional ground investigations nation-wide to upgrade our National Minerals Database and to further ascertain the assays of our mineral assets to the level that can easily attract financial investments and assure operators of the scope of operations required for further exploration and/or mining.
โThe Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) has also signed and operationalised MoUs and Technical Cooperation Agreements with the China Geological Surveys, Shandong Mineral Exploration Agency and the National Office Hydrocarbons and Mines โONHYMโ of Morocco. The collaborations are intended to leverage on the expertise and state-of-the-art technologies of these organizations in assisting Nigeria generate investor friendly geoscience data.
โThe Ministry has initiated engagements with SGS, a world-renowned material testing company, to strengthen the capacity NGSA Laboratory Facilities in Kaduna towards achieving ISO 17025 accreditation within the shortest possible period.
โAs part of the support we received from the Natural Resources Fund, the Ministry has finalized exploration initiatives totaling N15 billion allowing successful entities help with the exploration of priority minerals like Gold, Lead, Zinc, Rare earth metals to mention a few.
โ Launched a N5 billion fund (made up of N2.5 billion by SMDF & a counterpart fund of N2.5 billion by Bank of Industry) to provide single digit interest loans to Artisanal and Small & Medium scale miners.
โSecured, through the Federal Government, a $150million loan from the World Bank to commence the Mineral Diversification (MinDiver) Project aimed at funding strategic interventions in the Sector.
โWe have made progress in resolving the legal issues around our legacy projects, particularly Ajaokuta. We have signed a Modified Concession Agreement (MCA) that has allowed for the commencement of the return of the entity to the Federal Government of Nigeria. We have in place a timeline of action which would see the legacy plant become operational in the near future. We are at this time concluding an audit process, further to which we would fully take over the plant. We are taking the most appropriate steps in our national interest to ensure Ajaokuta is finally put to work after several false starts in the past.
โOn ALSCON, we have also made significant progress in our efforts to bring the Company back to life with the approval of the National Council on Privatisation that the company be given to UC Rusal with clear conditionalities for resuscitation.
โThe Re-activation of the Mineral Resource and Environmental Management Committees (MIREMCO) in 20 states. Ten (10) States have so far been mobilised with take-off grants and operational vehicles.
โEstablishing and equipping the Mines Environmental Analytical Laboratory in the Ministry to enhance a reliable data collection from mines field for compliance monitoring and maintenance of data bank.
โProcured 40 Field Vehicles for the Presidential Special Mines Surveillance Task Force to monitor illegal mining activities
โOperationalised several existing MoUs and a number of new ones between the Federal Government and other countries like the Republic of South Africa , the Peoples Republic of China, e.t.c.
โWe have initiated the optimization of the Gold Value Chain with a view to Instituting a Federal Gold Reserve Scheme, in which the Central Bank of Nigeria shall be involved. This initiative would also include a National Gold Purchase Scheme that would involve cultivating partnerships with state governments towards improving their beneficial participation in the gold value chain especially as it touches on production, technics, trading, health and safety, and environmental protection.โ
