The Federal Government has approved the purchase of 38 patrol jeeps worth N326.78m for the inspectorate divisions of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development.
The purchase of the vehicles is according to the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, is meant to boost the operations of the ministry.
He spoke to State House correspondents after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council meeting.
“We are one year in office, in two days’ time; so this is the anniversary cabinet meeting.
“And it gave us the opportunity to really reflect on the progress we’ve made as a government, the challenges that we still have to tackle and the commitment that we had to reiterate to Mr. President for giving all of us the opportunity to serve the nation.
“And to do so in a manner that advances our democracy and the development of our country.
“Aside from that, we took on two memoranda – one from the ministry of mines and steel development and another from the ministry of water resources.
“On the mines and steel development it was the approval of the direct procurement of Nissan four-wheel patrol vehicles for the mines inspectorate (division) in our 36 states,” he said.
The minister explained that for no vehicle has been purchased for the inspectorate divisions of the mines and steel development ministry, which oversees the artisanal mining situation in the various states of the federation, in a decade.
He said the vehicles would be used for surveillance of areas where illegal mining activities take place and for field trips by the ministry’s workers.
He recalled the recent killing of some miners by bandits in Zamfara and the death of two miners in Paiko, Niger State, saying that through proper surveillance such incidents could be avoided.
He further said that as part of the ministry’s road map, a surveillance task force had been established with the ministries of Interior, Defence, and Police Affairs.
He stated that the approval of the purchase of the patrol vehicles is an indication of the government’s commitment to supporting made-in-Nigeria products.
He continued: “Over the last three months, all the approvals we had for the purchase of vehicles for Mines and Steel, Interior, Immigration, EFCC were procurement authorised to buy vehicles from local assembly plants.
“This is so that we can begin to strengthen our automotive industry and the government remains committed to that and this approval is further confirmation of the government’s commitment in that direction.
“It speaks directly also of our determination to really begin to focus a lot more seriously on the activities of informal or illegal miners.”
Fayemi added that the ministry was eager to define the role it could play in supporting artisanal and small scale miners in fulfilment of the administration’s job-creation and revenue-generation agenda.
He said the vehicles, worth N326.78m, would be bought from local automobile companies and given to each of the 36 states and Abuja, with Lagos State getting two.
The Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, who also briefed the correspondents, said that the second memo considered by FEC was the ratification of the Lake Chad Water Charter.
He said that a treaty that was signed by all the countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission in 2012, required the ratification of 95 per cent of the countries before it could come into effect.
LCBC is an intergovernmental organisation that oversees water and other natural resource usage in the basin.
The commission was established on May 22, 1964 by the four countries that border Lake Chad: Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria and Chad.
Today, the commission has eight member governments, namely: Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Algeria, the Central African Republic, Libya, and Sudan – chosen for their proximity to Lake Chad.
N’Djaména, the capital of Chad hosts the headquarters of the commission.
Adamu said, “The charter was ratified today and the next stage is for it to go to the National Assembly for an enactment of the law to back it.
“The charter seeks to strengthen cooperation between all the member countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and to forge some kind of consensus on issues relating to the environment, security, and the future of the lake itself.
“The lake has been threatened by climate change over the years. It has shrunk to less than 10 per cent of its storage capacity 40 years to 50 years ago.
“And all efforts are being put in place to ensure that the lake is safe from extinction and to improve the security situation in the region.”
The minister ascribed the restlessness and insurgency in the North East partly to the shrinking of the lake and expressed the hope that with other countries ratifying the charter, security in the region could be guaranteed.
