Miners’ Centre To Train Women On Solid Minerals Value Chain

Women groups, including non-governmental organisations (NGO) and individuals, have been urged to take advantage of the Minerals and Miners Centre (MMC) capacity building programme and internship slots in Nigeria.

MMC country director, Dr Comfort Asokoro-Ogaji, disclosed this in an interview, saying, the Minerals and Miners Centre (MMC) was reaching out to women applicants in diverse fields to enroll in its ongoing internship recruitment programmes scheduled to take off in Nigeria in a few weeks.

She said lack of requisite knowledge was a drawback to stakeholders in the mineral and mining sector.

“Expertise gaps have been identified as the significant stumbling block to progress in the sector. These gaps have become a major disadvantage for both men and women operating or intending to operate in the sector.

 There is a know-how deficit in both technical and non-technical angles to the solid minerals business.

“Capacity is needed in management, administration, IT, statistics, data science and trade standards amongst others. Major technical capabilities can be improved upon for efficient and effective exploration, beneficiation, and other expert components that should make mining economically viable for all stakeholders including governments, private sector and host communities. Structural capacity on the part of governments and how the private sector institutions are to be run also needs a boost. Without capacity we are handicapped. There can be no progress. It’s like blindness. The difference between success and failure is in knowledge and applicability of the same,” she said.

According to her, the internship recruitment programmes are geared towards contributing to the sector regarding training and building capacity of women and youths to learn about mineral processing, gemstones tumbling, cutting, polishing and faceting, and mineral processing, amongst other skills.

Dr Asokoro-Ogaji went on: “Women in the field of chemical engineering, mining engineering, civil and mechanical engineering are invited to enroll for the internship. In the same vein, non-mining experts such as business administrators, accountants, IT specialists, procurement, tax consultants, environmental consultants and project managers, etc, capable of providing services to the mining sector are welcome to join the internship programme.

“We have identified a few institutions to work with in Nigeria. Harnessing potential that already exists and stirring awareness and interest in the solid minerals for our people to key in and boost their income and purchasing power as women and men alike.”

The MMC country director further stated that as an environmentalist and a chemist, she was passionate about responsible mining standards that consider the source of the resource, the environment, the communities and its people, adding that the programme underpins the vision of MMC, which is to strengthen production, trade, technical knowledge and social linkages in the solid minerals sector in Nigeria.