By Anthony Areh
Mr Obadiah Nkom, the Director-General, Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office (MCO), on Wednesday said that engineers should take the lead in actualising the Federal Government’s economic diversification agenda.
Nkom said this in Abuja, while receiving Executive Committee members of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Maitama branch.
He called on Nigerian engineers to support government’s economic diversification plans to make the nation great.
“The engineering profession is one of the oldest professions cutting across many fields.
“The different disciplines in the engineering profession have the capacity to actualise government’s diversification policy to boost economy.
“It is about putting our heads together to go to work. Professional bodies should be able to work together to ensure that Nigeria becomes a great nation,’’ he said.
The director-general urged the NSE to take steps to set a standard for the profession and ward off quacks from parading themselves as engineers.
He pledged the support of his office for all professional activities of the branch.
On activities of the MCO, Nkom said that the office, which had the responsibility of administering mining licenses had issued more than 5000 licenses so far.
“At the MCO, we shoulder the responsibility of administration of mineral titles all over the country.
“We supervise and regulate the mineral sector by issuing licenses to interested companies. As of today. we have issued 5276 valid mining licenses across the country.
“Our deliverables are simply licensing and making sure that Nigerians are able to key into the diversification programme of the government,” the director-general said.
The Chairman of the NSE, Mr Oladipupo Mabogaje, had earlier said that the branch was committed to upholding the dignity of the engineering profession.
He said that the visit was informed by the need to collaborate with the cadastre office in the area of mentorship of young engineers.
He said that the MCO should also support the branch in the area of entrepreneurship for young engineers to get them engaged.
