THE Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday approved the purchase of 38 patrol vehicles for Mines Inspectorates at a total cost of N327 million.
Minister of Mines and Steel Development Kayode Fayemi said this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the meeting.
According to him, each of the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will get one of the Nissan four-wheel patrol vehicle. Additional one will be given to Lagos State because of its size.
He noted that no vehicle was purchased for mines and steel inspectorate division in the last 10 years to check illegal mining activities.
He said: “For a decade, no vehicle has been purchased for the mines and steel Inspectorate Division to oversee what’s going on in our various states in artisanal and informal mining situations, surveillance of illegal mining activities taking place and the various challenges we face on the field.
“You may have read for example, even though it is not directly linked to the mining operation, what happened in Zamfara yesterday and the number of people that were killed – miners that were killed by bandits that have been operating in that area, which is one of the reason as part of our road map, a surveillance task force has also been established with the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defence, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Police and the Civil Defence.”
The approval, he said, was also part of the government’s commitment to support made in Nigeria products.
“Over the last two, three months, all the approvals we have got for vehicles not just ours in Mines and Steel, but the ones for the Prison Service, Immigration, EFCC are procurements authorised to buy vehicles from local assembly plants so that we can begin to strengthen our automotive industry.
“The government remains committed to that and this approval is a further confirmation of the government’s commitment in that direction. And it speaks directly to our determination to begin to focus a lot more seriously on the activities of informal or illegal miners.
“Only yesterday, I was in Paiko Local Government Area (LGA), where two people died last week, to examine what precisely led to that, to people who were just trying to etch out a living in supporting artisanal and small-scale miners, to fulfill Mr. President’s job creation agenda.
“The 38 vehicles – one for each state of the federation and FCT and an additional one for Lagos because of its size. It is at a unit cost of N8.190 million, totalling N326.781 million.”
Minister of Water Resources Sulaimon Adamu said the council ratified the Lake Chad Basin Water Charter.
The next stage, he said, is for it to go to the National Assembly for enactment into law.
He said: “The Lake Chad Basin Commission comprises of a number of countries – Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic and Libya.
“A treaty was signed in 2012 by all countries, which requires 95 per cent of member countries to rectify it before it comes into effect.
“The charter seeks to strengthen cooperation between all members and to forge some kind of consensus on issues relating to environment, security and the future of the lake itself. As you are aware, the lake has been threatened by climate change; it has shrunk to less than 10 per cent of its original size 40, 50 years ago. And efforts are being put in place to ensure the lake is safe from extinction and to improve the security situation. “