The Women Miners in Nigeria (WMIN) has called for a review of the technical education curriculum in Nigeria in a bid to improving activities in the mining sector.
The National President of the association, Dr Janet Adeyemi made the call in an interview on Thursday in Abuja.
Adeyemi said that for Nigeria to reposition its solid minerals sector there was a need to review its curriculum, particularly on technical education, in line with efforts to diversify the economy.
“Mining is very diversified, the diversification entails with different skills, and there is shortage of skills. So, we need to make sure we rejig our educational curriculum and have technical schools.
“Even the uneducated ones, get them certified because we need the welders, the foundries and software engineers in the cause of mining, among many other things because the world has changed.
“Mining has gone beyond that, we need to build up this base to be able to tackle the mining of the future, and then we have to look at the environmental laws,” she said.
She emphasised the need for strict adherence to mining laws, particularly in holding operators accountable to environmental regulations.
“We have to be very strict with them, and with the mining companies because mining can be very devastating and destructive.
“We need to have experts who do the Environmental, Social and Governance certification to make sure companies are compliant,” she said.
She urged the government to focus on assisting indigenous companies in accessing funds, by enabling them to provide standard information in the appropriate format to attract investors.
“These mineral reporting codes and standards are established to support consistent and reliable reporting to woo potential investors,” she said.
NAN
