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Senator Diket Plang, representing Plateau Central who sponsored the bill says making the Institute a University would position the nation’s mining sector and ensure the diversification of Nigeria’s economy, deepen research on mineral exploration, exploitation and instill knowledge of many facets of mining resource management, including geosciences and engineering in citizens.
Plang who spoke in Jos noted that the conversion of NIMG to the status of a University is long overdue as many contemporary institutions established by the colonial masters, like the one in Ghana and India, have since been upgraded to the status of a University and added that having a University of Mining and Geosciences like other specialized Universities such as University of Agriculture, Petroleum University, the University of Education, the Marine University, and the University of Medical Sciences would be of benefits to the country.
He stated that the School of Mining in Ghana which is a twin brother to that of Jos, Nigeria is now the Ghana University of Mining and Technology, while that in Jos was just upgraded to an Institute in 2018
His words, “It is like other specialized 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 don’t do this. That is why all sorts of foreign miners come to mine on our land with little knowledge.
“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; so Nigeria cannot be an exception.”
