Nigeria needs to focus more on Buhari’s economy recovery policy – Asuquo

By Gyang Bere, Jos

The Director-General/Chief Executive of National Metallurgical Development Centre (NMDC), Prof Linus Asuquo, says that Nigeria need to focus more on building human capacity and Infrastructural development in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s economic recovery programme.

He said critical areas of the country’s economy have received little to no attention over the years and expressed optimism that with adequate research in the mining sector, Nigeria will bounce back.

Prof Asuquo disclosed this at the weekend while declaring open a three-day training workshop organised by the Management of NMDC to enhance the capacity of members towards contributing towards the growth and development of the nation’s economy.

‘For the economy of Nigeria to have a boost and compete favourably with other developed economies of the world, there is an urgent need for a more robust and sustainable investment in Human Capacity Building which is a key factor in driving other factors for rapid economic growth.

‘The Management of NMDC in response to President Mohammadu Buhari’s Economic Diversification Policy, particularly on the emphasis laid on Mining and Steel Sector, it has become imperative to train and re-train members of staff so as to imbibe the right attitude to work which will improve on the overall productivity of the centre.’

The DG said that during his two years as the head of the Agency, his administration has worked tirelessly to provide a conducive environment for research while calling on the government to inject more funds into research considering the pivotal role research plays in the growth of any given economy.

Asuquo decried the insignificant portion of the country’s annual budget allocated to research and called for a review to enable the industry to perform optimally.

‘NMDC has the potential of Industrialising the country through modern global best practices in Research and Development if provided with the necessary tools and adequate funding as being the practice in other developing countries in the world.’

The Managing Director of FullRays Consulting Limited, Peter Udo, assured the participants that his organisation has the Training Professional know-how to make them discover who their hidden potentials, which if properly harnessed would add value to the realisation of the Mission and Vision of NMDC.

Udo reminded the participants, the indispensable role Team Work coupled with the right attitude plays in realising organisational goals.

He thanked the management of NMDC for giving his firm the opportunity to showcase its professionalism in Training and retraining consultancy.

The Director of Finance and Human Resources Management, Dr Abubakar Tumi, charged all the participants to embrace the Training Workshop with a passion so as to get the best from the resource persons.

Abubakar said that in compliance with the directives on safety protocols aimed at preventing the spread of COVID 19, Pandemic, the management decided to split the workforce into smaller units to observe social distancing.