So, the government has put together a team of 10 people to really ramp up the production of salt and kaolin in the country. They had this big ceremony in Abuja to kick things off, and the Permanent Secretary, Dr Mary Ogbe, was all fired up about it. She was talking about how this whole thing fits right in with President Bola Tinubu’s plan to make things better. She said the President wants us to believe in our country and make it awesome because we don’t have another one. Dr Oladele Alake, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, is all about developing salt and kaolin production for Nigeria’s use and for export. He thinks it’ll create jobs, save money, and make our economy stronger.
Dr Ogbe told the committee to come up with any other ideas that could help the government get things moving in this sector. And get this, she gave them a deadline of November 30, 2023, to get their report in. That’s pretty soon!
The committee is led by Prof Zachaeus Opafunsho, and Mrs Salamatu Umar is the Secretary. They’ve got a bunch of things to figure out, like where all the salt and kaolin is, how many licenses have been given out, and how much it’ll cost to explore the sites. They also need to come up with a plan to build processing plants for salt and kaolin in Nigeria.