No fewer than 3,000 critical stakeholders in the mining sector, drawn from the 36 states in Nigeria will converge on Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital, during the week as the third edition of the National Council on Mining and Mineral Resources Development (NCMMRD) takes place between Wednesday and Friday.

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc Olamilekan Adegbite, and the Minister of State for Mines and Steel, Dr Uchechukwu Ogah, will be leading state commissioners and Permanent Secretaries in charge of mining and mineral resources ministries from the 36 states to the meeting. Others include participants from the academia, private sector security, practitioners and leaders of mining unions.

The third edition of the NCMMRD is being hosted by the Government of Ekiti State.

Themed “Nigeria Minerals and Metal Sector: Spectrum for Investment Opportunities for Economic Growth and Development”, the meeting would among other things, review current trends in the mining and minerals sector of the economy.

Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, says the importance of the council meeting cannot be over emphasised in order to ensure the country reaps bountifully from the present administration’s huge investments in agriculture and mining to grow the economy and create jobs.

Governor Fayemi, who chaired the inaugural meeting of the council in 2017 in his capacity as the then Minister of Mines and Steel Development, said all hands must be on deck to ensure that mining and agriculture contribute optimally to the nation’s economy.

The Governor said adequate arrangements have been made for safety of the participants during their stay in the state.

Other highlights of the three-day meeting, which will hold at the Trade Fair Complex, Ado- Ekiti, are: paper presentations, meeting of technical working groups, field tour and peer review.

The meeting will also examine challenges of informal mining activities for improved revenue generation as well as infrastructure gaps in the sector, among others.

Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary, Ekiti State Mineral Resources Development Agency, and Co-Chair of the Local Organising Committee, Mr Tokunbo Alokan, has said careful planning were being made to ensure a hitch- free programme with attendant gains for the economy.