The Director General/Chief Executive, National Metallurgical Development Centre, Jos Engr Prof. Linus Asuquo has hyped the need for proper and adequate intervention in the Research and Development Sector of the economy which he said is the bed rock of any industralization.
Asuquo made this plea while welcoming the Project Coordinator, World Bank Assisted Mineral Sector Support for Economic Diversification Project (MINDIVER) Engr Salim Sallam who came for project inspection in NMDC, Jos recently.
The DG/CE while thanking MinDiver through the Project Coordinator for its intervention in rehabilitating some of the buildings at the centre which included WET Analysis Laboratory, SEM Building, Telecommunication Building, Foundry Workshop, Corrosion Laboratory ,Clinic, Electric Arc Furnace Building(EAF) and Public Toilet said that the gesture will in no mean way assist the Centre to realize its mandate.
He said that the management and staff of the centre will ever remain grateful to the Ministers of Mines and Steel Development for approving MinDiver’s interventions in the areas of building rehabilitation snd procurement of some laboratory equipment.
Prof Asuquo equally thanked the government for slightly increasing the budgetry allocation to Research and Development from 0.1’/. to 0.5 ‘/. but appealled to government to increase the allocation to 3 or 5 ‘/. as being the case in countries like Russia and South Africa.
The Director General/ Chief equivocally said that research and development globaly is capital intensive and for Nigeria to be emancipated economically there is need for government to re-awaken its interest in R and D through proper legislation and more bugetry appropriation that will catalize research and development agencies like NMDC to be more result oriented.
The Project Coordinator, MinDiver, Engr Salim Sallam in his response thanked Prof.Asuquo for the laudable transformation he is carrying out in NMDC. He reminded the DG/CE that his developmental anticidents particularly within his short stay in NMDC was the major yard stick that attracted MinDiver to procure some vital laboratory equipment and rehablitation of some specified buildings at the Centre.
According to Engr Sallam, the major purpose of their visit to NMDC was to ascertain the completion of rehabilitation work at the Centre and supply of some of the pricured equipment for possible commissioning and handing over back to NMDC management for use in shortest possible time.
He remided the DG/CE of the maxim that say ‘the reward of hard work is additional work’. Sallam used the forum to re-echo the emphasis the present administration is laying on Mines and Steel as veritable tool for economic diversification which according to him the Ministry has resolved not to be found wanting.
Dr Abubakar Yusuf Tumi who is the Director of Finance and Human Resources Management in NMDC, in his vote of thanks appreciated President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing Prof Asuquo to stir the boat of NMDC who according to him has breathed new life into the operations of the Agency.
He assured the MinDiver helsman that the newly rehabilitated buildings will be guided with patrotism
Dr Tumi appealled to MinDiver to extend its generousity to the area of man power development in current Research and Development methodologies which according to him will enable the members of staff to be at aper with their counterparts in other industralized nations thereby serving as propencity towards actualizing the mission and vision of the Centre.
Sunny Eweama,
Head(Press and Public Relations) NMDC, Jos.
