ABUJA (Min of Mines and Steel Dev Report) – The Management and staff of Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development has hailed the outgoing Minister of State, Honourable Abubakar Bawa Bwari, for his forthrightness.
They paid this glowing tribute during his handover ceremony held at the Conference Room of the Ministry’s Headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday May 28, 2019.
In his valedictory speech at the occasion, the Minister said that a solid foundation has been laid for the sector and urged Management to brace up to support all endeavours and initiatives which will turn the fortunes of the Minerals and Metal sector around, to actualise the economic diversification agenda of the present administration.
He said, “We have since worked very hard to change this narrative in order to fulfill our mandate which includes increasing the revenue generated from the sector and its contribution to national GDP; creating jobs for our youths by broadening the range of opportunities available for them and promoting sustainable Mining practices.”
According to him, in less than four years, the Ministry was able to record some major achievements which include plugging revenue leakages, increasing sector funding, producing more accurate geo-science data through world class exploration projects, improving job opportunities in the sector while developing the downstream sector and regulating the sector effectively to make sure standard practices are adhered to.
Abubakar Bwari, further intimated that measures are being put in place to revitalize the moribund sector by introducing sweeping changes and reforms to position it as a revenue generating sector for the government and gradually improve the ease of doing business.
He thanked all stakeholders for identifying with him during his tenure to ensure that the Ministry achieve more successes and gracing the auspicious event of his handover ceremony.
Earlier in his address, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Abdulkadir Mu’azu, said that the Minister has served the Ministry selflessly, he commended the Minister’s extraordinary intellectual and leadership style that impacted positively on the operational effectiveness and administrative efficiency of the Ministry.
All the Directors and Heads of Agencies under the Ministry present at the ceremony praised and described him as a team player and a pacesetter whose adeptness was consistently demonstrated as the Minister of Federal Republic of Nigeria. They also extolled him as a quintessential person, who brought his wealth of experience to bear in transforming the Ministry for efficient service delivery.
Chinwe Ekwugha (ACIO)
For: D (Press & PR)