The federal government yesterday in Abuja commissioned the National Geodata Centre (NGC) at the headquarters of the Nigerian Geological Survey (NGSA) in Abuja, a project executed by the World Bank-assisted MINDIVER Project.
Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc. Olamilekan Adegbite, who performed the commissioning process, said it was a major milestone in the nation’s mining subsector, and expressed delight that it was realised in his tenure as minister.
According to him, the coming of the geodata centre will put Nigeria in another league as a mining nation, adding that it will attract local and international investors into the sector.
He pointed out that with the development, investors can now access mining data online without even coming to the ministry.
He said, “A geo-data centre represents the long term national geoscience knowledge base essential for identifying the mineral potentialities of a country.”
According to him, most notable mining countries, such as Australia, Canada, and Namibia in Africa are doing well because investors have access to geodata.
“It is common knowledge that mining companies of many countries are willing to choose, and they decide where to go and invest based on the availability of data, so as to minimise their risk and, of course, maximise their profit.
“The World Bank has been assisting Nigeria through the MINDIVER project, to attain data that would be able to attract the requisite investment into the mining sector,” he said.
Adegbite noted that the geodata centre being launched would create a modern digital accessible infrastructure that would be domiciled at the NGSA.
“It has a particular focus on data relevant to the mineral sector, with the aim of improving access by investors to data and information,” he said, adding that the centre is not static as continual information or data will be uploaded onto the centre from time to time.
He said though the centre is located at the headquarters of the NGSA, it is linked with its two arms in Kaduna, i.e. the NGSA office there, and then the National Steel Raw Materials Development Agency.
“The three of them are linked by dedicated platforms which have come to stay and the data will be accessible to would-be investors, both local and international,” he said.
He commended NGSA for the various milestones achieved by the agency under him as Minister, adding that one of such is the National Integrated Mineral Exploration Project, NIMEP.
Speaking at the event, the permanent secretary in the ministry, Dr Oluwatoyin Akinlade, who was represented by the director of human resources in the ministry, Dr Muhhammad Kabir Suleiman (MNI), said the federal government attached much importance to the geodata centre.
“The Nigerian Geo-data Centre was conceived as a national reliable repository of digital geoscience information on Nigeria. It was designed to be robust, comprehensive, easy to find and readily accessible.
“Due to its importance as a one-stop shop for geo-scientific data and information, the British Geological Survey (BGS), UK, was contracted to establish this high level infrastructure that provides security, resilience, access to mining investors, researchers, development experts and the general public,” she said.
The director general, NGSA, Abdulrazak Garba appreciated the minister, MINDIVER team and the technical partners for the success of the project.
