DG reiterates mining cadestre’s mandate to administer, manage mineral rights  in accordance with  law and customs around  the globe

FAVORITE ISHEMBER, ABUJA

The Director General of the Nigeria Mining Cadastre, Engr. Obadiah Simon Nkom has Reiterating the mining cadestre’s mandate  to administer and manage mineral rights in the best manner possible and in accordance with the law and customs governing mineral titles around the world

Specially, the launch of the Electronic Mining Cadastre , he said, will make it easier for people around the world to conduct business and provide access to the status of mineral titles.

The Director said this while speaking with newsman in an interview in Abuja during the 6th Edition of the annual Nigeria Mining Week and the unveiling of the electronic Mining cadestre system – eMC+ online (real-time) Mineral Title Administration and Management.

In the words of the Director: “We will be able to access the system from anywhere in the world, you dont need to come, you don’t need to leave Ibadan, even with your phone you will just see and have access to the status of the mineral titles, you will be able to have email send to you, stages of your licencing proceedings.

“So the electronic filing system that initially were computerized, but now have  migrated to an online system, which simply means that you can stay anywhere in the world. You can even use your phone to be able to have access to this system. By the time you have access to the mining cadastre information. It makes the system transparent.

“And if you ask me, What are the benefits, the benefits are majorly  ease of doing business. We are talking about somebody in future that does not really need to spend two days or three days to come to Nigeria, all you need to do is use his phone or whatever it reduces the travel time. At the end of the day, you find out that it becomes more effective,  more efficient, and becomes more easily usable. At the same time you find out that when you have to spend one million naira, two million naira, on transportation, you just use your phone and then on laptops or wherever and then do it. It will now encourage foreign investments into the sector.

“Nigeria will be able to now benefit from the aspect we talked about revenue generation already mining cadastral might not be core revenue generation. But I want to tell you that astronomically over the past years, we have had to surpass each year’s revenue irrespective of even the challenges irrespective of the pandemic. We surpass from 2019 up to date, in fact, in 2021 We have an 86% increase of revenue. So we hope at the end of the day, we’ll continue to be able to now add adequate value and revenue and the more you add value, the more at the end of the day the aspect of illegal activities.

“It makes it easier when you say ease of doing business is ease of getting licenses. So there are quite a number of benefits that people have to you don’t have to leave Ibadan to come to this zonal offices. Those offices will have dedicated centers.

“Taxation have gone round some of the zones, particularly if you have a problem, all you need to do is go to the zone, just like we have in visa, you will be able to now have dedicated centers where people who don’t even know how to use it will be able to know how to use it so much and at the end of the day it will definitely create an odd a lot a lot of change to Nigeria, particularly to make an impact in the mining sector”, he said.

On the revenue generation, Nkom said “when the minister was quoting seven point something billion for the sector, the mining cadastre generated 4.3 is now left for you to see where the percentage of the revenue came from”

“The revenues that we get is  from processing of licenses, licenses . You know, there’s another department in charge of royalties. There is another  department in charge of some other fees, but ours is fees for submission of application fees for annual service fees. And these are the kind of things that we do but yet we believe that our revenue will definitely boost we’re not competing with anybody. We’re only looking at Nigeria”, he further sta