Senator Diket Plang, representing Plateau Central in Plateau State, has sponsored a bill seeking to upgrade the Nigerian Institute of Mining and Geosciences (NIMG), Jos, to the status of a Federal University of Mining and Geosciences.
Senator Plang, who disclosed this to newsmen in Jos, Plateau State, said the bill, which has passed the first reading, is aimed at positioning the Nigerian mining sector as a veritable sector for diversifying the country’s economy, deepening research on mineral exploration, exploitation, and instilling knowledge of many facets of mining resource management, including geosciences and engineering.
The Senator, who said the conversion of NIMG to the status of a university is long overdue, mentioned that most of its contemporary institutions established by the colonial masters, like the one in Ghana and India, have since been upgraded to the status of a university.
According to him, if established, it will be like any other specialized university, such as the University of Agriculture, Petroleum University, the University of Education, the Marine University, and the University of Medical Sciences.
“It is like other specialised universities: we have such as the University of Agriculture to boost food production, the University of Transportation, the University of Education, and also the Army University, Airforce University because of the importance of Defense.
But we don’t have a University that has to do with mineralogical research despite the abundance of Mineral resources in the country.
“Minerals and Technology go together; it will be bad for us not to study what God has given to us. If you are not taking advantage of what you are endowed with, you must be making a mistake.
“Therefore, we must deepen our knowledge and research into what God has given us; we would, at the end of the day, cheat ourselves if we didn’t do this. That is why all sorts of foreign miners come to mine on our land with little knowledge of the wealth cratered out.”
He further enumerated that the history of mining companies started before independence in Jos, Plateau State, adding that the schools of mining in Jos, India, and Ghana were established by the colonial masters to train the locals.
The Senator added that the school of mining in Ghana which is a twin brother to the school of mining in Jos is now the Ghana University of Mining and Technology, while that in Jos was just upgraded to an institute in 2018.
“Nigeria needs a university of mining and geosciences, and already we have an institute running diploma courses in this aspect with about three campuses with functional laboratories. All that is required at the moment is to upgrade this institute to a degree-awarding institution.
“The idea of the bill for the conversion of NIMG to the University of Mining and Geo-Sciences Jos was conceived on this basis, coupled with the fact that Nigeria is blessed with abundant mineral resources.
Most of the developed countries have universities of mining; there are universities of mining in London, Russia, Australia, and almost all of these developed countries. So Nigeria cannot be an exception,” he said.
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