The first annual international conference of the National Association of Exploration Geophysicists (NAEG) was declared open on Monday, August 14, 2023, by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Mary Ada Ogbe, who is also overseeing the Office of the Honorable Minister.
The high-point of the conference was the unveiling of the Constitution of NAEG by the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Mary Ogbe who emphasized the importance of abiding by the provision of the constitution while also calling for close synergy between groups in the industry.
While saying that developing the solid minerals sector is crucial to the economic development of Nigeria. ‘Right now, the focus is on mining and metallurgical sector to develop our economy,’ she said, adding that collaboration is important in order to move the country forward.
In the area of research and knowledge sharing, I am a scientist and professional and I understand the import of this kind of association, she said, adding that sharing the outcomes of researches among relevant authorities is crucial to the realization of set goals.
Dr. Ogbe explained that information-sharing will also lead to the development of new skills and goals.
The Permanent Secretary said: ‘We need the collaboration of every agency and association of this noble profession in mining and geoscience to work with the ministry.’
She commended the resourcefulness of the NAEG conference, noting that professional bodies and associations that made their presence have helped to disseminate knowledge in an easy and friendly manner.
‘This meeting is very crucial and I implore anyone that is here to make the most of it,’ the Permanent Secretary added.
Dr. Ogbe gave high regards to Prof. Mrs Deborah Ajakaiye, a matriarch of the geociences profession in Nigeria who is the Chairman, Board of Trustees of NAEG, saying: ‘I thank NAEG for giving me the opportunity to sit with this great woman, Prof Ajakaiye, she is already my role model,’ and said to her in striking humility, ‘I want to be like you, thank you so much, ma.’
In his goodwill message, the President, Nigerian Mining and Geoscience Society, Prof. Akinade Olatunji expressed delight at the founding of NAEG, saying: ‘The NMGS is excited by the feat achieved in organizing this conference under the prevailing economic realities in Nigeria,’ adding that it takes only the bold and courageous to venture into such activities at this time.
He said: ‘The economic situation is not friendly to hosting this sort of conference. I am therefore delighted that NAEG has been able to deliver this conference and I am sure that the lessons learnt by the association in organizing this meeting would come handy in organizing subsequent events.’
The professor of Applied Geology described the NMGS as ‘a big tent, ready to birth many more groups,’ noting that the organization owes the foresight to the founding fathers and mothers of the NMGS who made provisions of how these sort of Associations could be formed in the NMGS Constitution.
He said in order to galvanize the relationship between these emerging Specialist Groups and Associations, the NMGS constitution was amended to allow the President of any of such Association with 200 paid-up members of the NMGS to have a statutory seat in Council with all the accompanying rights and privileges. This, he said was to foster unity and sense of ownership among the various specialist groups.
‘I must confess that this singular amendment has broadened the governance space of the NMGS and allowed infusion of new blood with progressive perspectives into the NMGS,’ he said, adding that NMGS encourages NAEG to be aggressive in its recruitment of members in order to qualify to be enshrined in the NMGS constitution.
Director-General of the Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office, Engr. Obadiah Nkom congratulated the President of NAEG on the maiden edition of the conference.
Nkom, a Fellow of the Nigerian Mining and Geoscience Society (NMGS) served meritoriously as the 30th President of the Society. He thanked Prof. Mrs Deborah Ajakaiya for her counsel. THE TRUTH reports that Ajakaiye, who is a matriarch of the geoscience profession in Nigeria, was the 9th President of the NMGS.
Discussing milestones scored in repositioning of the country’s mineral licensing system, the Director-General said it is among the best in the world, noting that the commitment of government to providing friendly business climate in the industry led to the establishment of the electronic mining cadastre system (eMC+). The online platform offers comparative advantage to prospective investors who wish to invest in the sector.
President of the NAEG, Mr. Akinola George who welcomed top government functionaries, the academia, captains of industry and enthusiasts to the conference, discussed an objective of the association saying: ‘In founding this association, the major stakeholders agreed that to postulate a learning platform for our association, that is to say, our association is like an institution, where the practice of exploration geophysics is taught and demonstrated in such a way that at the end, we shall be conversant with the details required for the true understanding of every exploration geophysical expedition before and after collecting field data for interpretation.’
George, who had served as president of the Nigerian Mining and Geoscience Society (NMGS) noted that NAEG has come a long way, starting with its inauguration in March 20, 2017, with 61 registered members which later increased to 126 members as at the commencement of the conference.
Director-General, Nigerian Geological Survey Agency, Dr. Abdulrazaq Garba congratulated the President of NAEC for putting together scarce resources to convene the conference, adding that the presence of a significant number of professionals at the inaugural conference attests to the fact that the effort is worthwhile.
Addressing the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Garba said: ‘Permit me, Permanent Secretary to say that the Ministry has been doing a lot in the area of geophysics. Most of us would recall that not long ago, we had the first airborne survey conducted for us by the World Bank, and recently we had high resolution airborne survey and it is still in progress.’
According to Dr. Garba, who was Chairman of the Implementation Committee of the National Integrated Mineral Exploration Project (NIMEP), ‘the beauty of the airborne surveys is that it has helped to generate datasets that are made available to investors free of charge,’ adding that the National Geodata Centre at the NGSA would give increase the accessibility of the geo data made available by virtue of the airborne surveys.
He said it demonstrates the fact that MMSD is very supportive of specialists groups in the geosciences to ensure that stakeholder institutions develop datasets in the interest of developing the country.
In her charge, Dr. Mrs Lami Salawu who represented the Women in NMGS pointed out that women have played very active roles in the mining and geosciences profession in Nigeria, stating that ‘what a man can do, a woman can do better.’
She however observed that women should rise up to the challenge of getting more involved in the extractive industry practice, stating that ‘mining and exploration activities’ are not the exclusive reserve for men, and should not be misunderstood as a matter for the academics alone. She called for closer collaboration between practitioners and academics, noting that synergy between the two will lead to the development of hybrid solutions in the interest of the sector.
Dr. Salawu charged women to ‘rise up to the challenge of developing the downstream mining industry,’ noting that women professionals in geophysics should present themselves as able available to grab the opportunities available in exploration geophysics.
While congratulating the president of NAEC on the conference, Mrs. Salawu expressed optimism that that a woman would be given a chance to lead the association in due course.
Prof. G. O. Adeyemi who described Mr. Akinola George as his ‘very good friend’ said the Nigerian Association of Engineering Geologists and Environment (NAEGE) and NAEG are partners in progress. He jokingly remarked that ‘NAEG cannot swallow NAEGE,’ adding that the two professional associations are ‘partners in progress and children of NMGS.’
Adeyemi, who who represented the president of NAEGE, Dr. Aliu Kayode, encouraged the Permanent Secretary, an accomplished medical doctor, to feel at home among geoscientists and all other extractive industry professionals, saying that ‘there is a branch of geology called medical geology.’ According to the professor, medical geology is a link between medicine and the geosciences.
Prof Adeyemi stated: ‘I want to welcome NAEG on board as one of the many specialist groups of NMGS, we are partners in progress, NAEG is a younger brother of NAEGE and the two brothers will remain united as close pals.’
The NAEGE president welcomed the President of the NMGS, Prof. Shedrack Olatunji whom he described as the father of the various specialist groups in NMGS and wished participants resourceful conference.
