Survey of solid minerals attains 44 per cent -- Minister
The Ministry of Solid Minerals has concluded geo-science survey of 34 branded solid minerals in 44 per cent of the nation's territory.
The Minister of Solid Minerals, Prof. Lesley Obiora, made the disclosure Friday in Abuja at a breakfast meeting of members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
Obiora said investors were only waiting for the enabling law to commence business.
She called on the National Assembly to speed up the passage of the bill on solid minerals to enable investors to commence business.
In her presentation entitled: ``Sustainable Management of Mineral Resources Project,'' the minister commended President Olusegun Obasanjo for declaring 2007 as Minerals and Mines Year (MAMY).
Addressing the meeting, Obasanjo said Nigeria's over-dependence on oil revenues was responsible for the neglect of solid minerals sector.
He lamented that previous administrations in the country had abandoned solid minerals which, he noted, could be found in all parts of the country.
Obasanjo noted that agriculture did not fare any better, citing Nigeria's self-sufficiency in poultry, grain and maize in 1979, ``only to become a major importer a few years down the line''.
``We recovered from importing poultry only two years ago," he said.
Obasanjo acknowledged that reforms in the solid minerals sector started late because the foundation for take-off was basically not there.
He said, however, that things were beginning to take shape in the sector ``right now''.
The president said that government's reform agenda in the sector would take some time to produce results, adding that a lot more still needed to be done in the area of an enabling legislation.