From Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
Engr Obadiah Nkom, Director General of the Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office (NMCO), has said that collaboration with ECOWAS will drive growth in the mining sector across Africa. He spoke during a visit by an ECOWAS delegation, led by William Baidoe, to his office in Abuja.
Nkom stressed the need for skilled workers to tap Nigeria’s mineral resources. He noted that NMCO is working with financial institutions to ensure transparency. The agency is not only about revenue creation but also about how to bring investments that would contribute to national development, he said.
He praised the current administration for transforming the sector and welcomed ECOWAS experts to study Nigeria’s digital cadastral system. “Nigeria is among the few member nations that have already moved its webpage system to a digital system,” Nkom said. “The collaboration with the ECOWAS commission will create the necessary platforms to promote needed growth and development of the region.”
William Baidoe, head of the ECOWAS delegation, said the visit aimed to evaluate Nigeria’s system as a model for a regional geo-extractive observatory. “Nigeria is far ahead. Today, we witnessed a practical demonstration of a fully functional, transparent, and accessible system. It’s not only operational; it’s exemplary,” he stated.
Eugene Norman, head of Sierra Leone’s Mining Cadastre Office, called for harmonised systems across ECOWAS. “It is important that we learn from Nigeria’s experience what works and what doesn’t so we can guide our countries accordingly,” he said.
Madu Hassan Fika, a chief geologist from Nigeria’s Ministry of Petroleum, described the EMC+ system as an eye-opener, boosting regional investor confidence.