Oscarline Onwuemenyi

President Goodluck Jonathan has continued to demonstrate his administration’s commitment towards developing the mining and minerals sector as a counter-force to oil and gas exploitation.

Speaking last week at an interactive dinner with leading Australian mining and solid minerals investors, the President said his administration will vigorously implement policies, programmes and projects that will ensure the rapid development of Nigeria’s solid minerals sector in the next four years.

He invited the Australian miners to also invest their resources, skills, expertise and technology in the development of Nigeria’s solid minerals sector. “You are well known for solid minerals and you will find a lot to do in Nigeria,” he told his audience at the dinner.

The president, who spoke at the foreground of the meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government, CHOGM, in Perth, Western Australia, said this is in furtherance of efforts to create more job opportunities for the country’s youth. Western Australia with its huge solid minerals resources is the richest mineral region in Australia.

President Jonathan had earlier in the day met with the Premier of Western Australia, Mr. Colin Barnett, and declared his commitment to the full development of Nigeria’s solid minerals sector because of its huge potential for boosting the national economy.

He told Mr. Barnett that his administration was working towards the full development of Nigeria’s solid minerals sector to expand and diversify the country’s economic base. “We have a lot to learn from you in solid minerals development and we look forward to establishing mutually-beneficial partnerships with Australian investors and industrialists,” he said.

The President also re-assured the gathering that his administration had the political will and commitment to fully implement all the regulatory reforms required to facilitate the entrance of more investors to Nigeria’s mining sector. According to him, Australian investors were also welcome to invest in other under-developed sectors of the Nigerian economy such as agriculture, noting that the country was blessed with vast arable land on which almost anything can be grown.

The Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, who also spoke at the occasion, told the Australian investors that Nigeria had over 33 solid minerals in sufficient quantities for commercial exploitation. He also promised of government’s commitment to creating the enabling environment for the development of Nigeria’s solid minerals sector.

One major immediate outcome of the session was the proposal by Mr. Hugh Morgan, a leading Australian solid minerals developer who co-chaired the interactive dinner, for the establishment of a Joint Nigeria-Australia Trade and Investment Commission, to promote economic cooperation between countries.