Follow Us on Google
From Jude Owuamanam, Jos
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Labour and Employment and member committee on Solid Minerals, Senator Diket Plang, has said the proposed University of Mining and Technology in Jos will unlock the economic potential of the solid sub-sector in Nigeria.
He said that this informed the reason why he proposed a bill for the upgrading of the Nigerian Institute of Mining and Geo-Science in Jos to a full-fledged university.
Speaking in Jos while on a visit to the institute, Plang, said that as the solid minerals capital of Nigeria, upgrading the institute would further expose the solid potential, not only in Plateau, but in other states as it would become a research and referral centre to similar institutes all over the world.
He described the establishment of the university as long overdue considering the fact that it has the capacity to spur rapid development of the country’s solid minerals sector.
The senator expressed happiness that the bill has passed through the first reading, and will soon undergo the second reading and subsequent public hearing as soon as the senate resumes sitting.
Plang said that his visit to the was to assess its readiness and evaluate the programme content and manpower development of the institute in readiness for its upgrade to a full-fledged university.
The senator, who is an alumnus of the institute, that the visit was to sensitise staff and students to enable them to key into the proposal when the public hearing eventually kicks off.
Plang, who was overwhelmed by the state of readiness of the institute and some of its equipment, said, “The Director-General of the institute has taken me around; I have seen what is on the ground, and I am convinced that based on the structure and equipment on the ground, the institute may not have much problem transforming into a University of Mining.
“I want to say that if established, it will serve as a vehicle for rapid transformation of the Nigerian economy, while its products should be able to provide technical services in all aspects of mining engineering and its allied courses.
“And more so, the choice of Jos is not misplaced in view of the abundance of solid minerals in Plateau State. As sponsor of the bill, I am here because of the capacity of the institute and also because of what the institute can offer Nigeria and Nigerians.
I am interested in Nigeria and doing deep research in the area of minerals and geosciences. I felt that a great country like Nigeria is endowed with the mineral resources to deepen and upgrade the Institute of Mining into a university where mineral exploration will be maximized.
“That is why when I went to the National Assembly within the first month of my tenure, I came out with a bill to repeal the Act establishing the Institute of Mining to enable us to explore the possibility of upgrading it to a University of Mining. The content here is high, and most Nigerians may not know that there is enough manpower to galvanize it and run it effectively whenever it is upgraded to the status of a university,” he said.
Director-General of the Institute Professor Suleiman Bolaji Hassan said the institute has 23 standard pieces of equipment, adding that this and other facilities, including the structure at its permanent location, will be enough to move the institute to the next level of a university.
Hassan said other institutions in the country have been patronizing the institute at undergrad, postgraduate, and PhD levels as a result of the equipment on the ground, adding that if eventually upgraded, the takeoff will be smooth.
“Though not 100 per cent, we are building on what we need to take, and we have standard international equipment for analysis and identification of minerals. We also have space for us to take off. We also want to tell the world that we are being patronized by universities in this country in terms of training.
“So a university is not built in a day; it starts gradually. By the time the government establishes this, it will be the first of its kind, if not in Africa; the one that will be competing with us will be that of Taqua in Ghana,” he added.
