The new Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Dele Alake, on Monday solicited workers’ support to achieve new hope and mandates for the ministry.
Alake said this when he assumed office after the inauguration of the new ministers by President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.
He said the ministry was a sensitive sector in this period of economic renewal, adding that he was assigned the portfolio because of sensitive position of the sector to economic renewal.
He pledged the administration’s readiness to give a new lease of life to the sector.
Alake said that he specifically asked the president to assign the ministry to him contrary to the general perception that he would be given a particular portfolio.
“The ministry is key to the administration and the president wanted someone that he trusts and believes will deliver effectively.
“So, the position was one that I specifically asked Mr president to give me and he obliged,” he said.
Alake warned members of staff to brace up for the tasks ahead in delivering renewed hope to Nigerians, adding that all civil service bottlenecks be eliminated to enable him carry out his duties effectively.
According to him, I have worked as commissioner for information to the president while he was the Governor of Lagos state.
“I understand how you civil servants operate, I wont tolerate any bottlenecks that will hinder my job, so any files that gets to you must be attended to in an hour.
“We won’t allow bottlenecks to stifle our set goals, it’s either you shape in or you ship out.
“If you can really sit down to listen, you will understand that, hydrocarbon is fading out and the attention of the world is shifting to solid minerals. So, we must get it right.
“I understand what results are, having served under the current president as commissioner, and we are here to achieve results. I believe we can do it with all hands on deck,” he said.
Alake added that all is set to implement the president’s directive in line with the mandate of the sector, adding that he would unveil his roadmap for the sector in the next couple of days.
Earlier, his counterpart in the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Shuaibu Audu, said it was time to move the country up to the G-20 industrialised nations.
Audu said that in no distant time, the Ajaokuta Steel Mill would commence production.
“The mandate of Mr president is to ensure that we get it right in the steel sector. As a young ministry, we will work toward the production of steel in the country in no distant time.
“We are set to kick start the Ajaokuta steel machine and Nigeria can not afford to fail in steel production”, Audu said.
Also, the Minister of State, Mines and Steel development, Maigari Ahmadu, called for synergy among stakeholders and the staff to enable the ministers perform optimally.
The Permanent Secretary, Dr Mary Ogbe, said that the mandate of the ministry was to regulate the mining sector to ensure that mineral resources are harnessed and utilised for development of the nation’s economy. (NAN)
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