The Chairman, Board of Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA), Emah Bassey, says the agency is taking steps to get more funds to boost its activities and replace some of its obsolete equipment.
Bassey disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja, on the sideline of a two-day retreat organised by the NGSA for its Board Members.
The chairman said that one of the best options to get more funds to boost the activities of the agency is to lobby the National Assembly.
According to him, it became imperative to lobby the lower and upper chambers to allocate more funds for the agency due to its important roles to the nation’s development.
“We as the board of the agency will not fold our hands during our tenure; we will do our possible best to make sure we seek for more fund and timely disbursement for the agency.
“I believe members of the National Assembly will assist us if we tender the agency’s case before them with good reasons; that is what I mean by lobbying them,” he said.
He recalled that the agency budgetary allocation was grossly insufficient to meet both capital projects and its overhead cost.
According to him, the agency got three million dollars in 2015, less than 500, 000 dollars in 2016 and N2.5 billion released in 2017 for its activities and exploration.
“In comparison, a country like Congo spent 400 million dollars on exploration alone in 2012; Botawana, Guinea, Mali, and Namibia spent more than 50 million dollars to 100 million dollars each between 2012 and 2014 on mineral exploration.
“The agency has a statutory role of providing relevant and up-to-date geo-science information necessary for economic development of Nigeria,” he said.
The chairman noted that this is accomplished through a systematic process of gathering, collating, assessment and dissemination of all information related to rocks, minerals and groundwater resources of the country.
Bassey told NAN that the agency needs modern equipment to replace some of its obsolete equipment, urging the agency and board members to seek other means of getting funds to move the agency forward.
Mr Alexander Nwegbu, the Director-General of the agency, also told NAN that the essence of the retreat was to enlighten the board members about the activities of the agency and it technicality.
According to him, the retreat is organised to keep members abreast of our activities because most of them don’t understand the technicality of the agency.
On the agency’s laboratory in Kaduna state, he said that process of getting the laboratory certified to meet international standard has started and it would soon be achieved.
He said that while the certification process of the laboratory continues, mineral samplings were being conducted in the laboratory for different companies across the country.
“The mineral samplings conducted in the lab are accepted internationally, because of the pedigree of geological survey, which is an international brand.
“Results of mineral sampling from our Kaduna laboratory are accepted both at the local and at the international levels,” he said.
He urged the Federal Government to assist the agency on capacity building, saying that the agency staff members need training and retraining to be abreast with the high-tech of their jobs and professions.
“We want capacity building to expand our frontier in terms of relating with other organisations worldwide.
“This can be achieved if the government facilitates the process at diplomatic level to ensure easy access with our counterparts,” he said.
NAN reports that the board members advised the agency to seek for assistance from state governments, especially where it has offices to enhance its funding.
Some of the board members, who spoke with NAN, urged the agency to involve youths in every village where its staff members are conducting explorations, which is their primary duty to avoid security harassment.