TOYIN ADEBAYO, ABUJA

The Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has revealed that Nigeria has potential reserves of 200 million ounces of gold and that the launch of the expansive project, Dukia Gold, would create new opportunities for Nigeria to mine her gold reserves properly, trade responsibly and refine locally.

Vice President made this know at a virtual commissioning of the Dukia Gold and Precious Metals Project project on Tuesday in Abuja.

He hinted that, “The Dukia Gold & Precious Metals Refinery Project, championed by the High Commissions of Nigeria and Canada, has been seven years in the making and it is my pleasure to see that the project is ready to begin operations”.

According to him, “the Dukia Gold project would encourage the emergence of smaller-scale mining companies who, for the first time, would have a transparent and welcoming market for their mined gold and precious metals. This, he said would create jobs and unleash the economic potential of mining communities.

He stated that,“will create primary employment for local artisanal miners and mining cooperatives across the solid minerals value chain. Off-take agreements between Dukia Gold and local mining communities and owners of recyclable gold will be a useful provider of jobs in our post-covid economy.”

The Vice President also commissioned the nationwide Dukia-Heritage Bank Gold and Precious Metals Buying Centres which is part of a valuable private sector collaboration.

The buying centre is to provide a sustainable way for Nigerians to exchange their gold jewellery and other precious items for cash. “This system of exchange not only helps encourage a culture of recycling, but will also serve as a complementary source for the raw materials needed for the Dukia Gold & Precious Metals Refining Company”, he added.

Osinbajo , however, promised that the Federal Government would provide support and facilitate policies that would ensure successful deployment, implementation, and sustainable operations of the Dukia Gold Project as well as continuous support of the mining sector.

Earlier, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc. Olamilekan Adegbite, in his remarks, said the launch of Dukia-Heritage Bank Gold and Precious Metals Buying Centres is a testament of the unwavering effort of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to serve as a business friendly regulator, providing the enabling environment for business to thrive.

Adegbite hinted that the Buying Centre Initiative (BCI) would bring about efficiency and transparency to physical trading and transactions of mineral commodities.

According to him, “buying centre with minimum guaranteed price thresholds also ensures that Artisanal miners receive the right pricing for their goods relative to illegal off takers” This, he believed, would break the status quo of illegal mining and increasing royalty revenue accrual to the federal government.

He further added that in line with President’s mandates to diversify the economy, create jobs and increase revenue generation, the Minister said his ministry has licensed two gold refineries and has equally been creating a conducive fiscal and regulatory enabling environment for them to thrive. “We expect that these two refineries will create ample employment opportunities in the downstream sector and in the gold value chain.

“Dukia is one of the two duly licensed gold refiners in Nigeria. They have developed an encompassing ecosystem, consisting of nationwide DukiaHB Buying Centres alongside the virtual Purchasing Platform, that together form an integral centre-piece.”

“This initiative by Dukia and Heritage bank is the beginning of a seamless integration between the mining and banking sectors, which needs to be encouraged and applauded,” he emphasized.

Earlier in his welcome remarks, the Minister of State, Dr. Uchechukwu Ogah, said Nigeria is blessed with abundant mineral resources waiting to be harnessed for economic development.

He commended the partnership between Dukia Gold and Heritage Bank and hopeful that it would serve as a success model for building strong private business conglomerates that would transform not only the gold value chain, but entire mineral sector into a global competitive mining destination of repute.

Also, the Managing Director of Dukia Gold, Bose Owolabi said the company would work with its refining partners and stakeholders to ensure that the project was fully implemented and met international standards. She added that the Heritage Bank Raw Materials Buying Centres would be opened at designated branches of the bank across the country as from Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Dukia Gold & Precious Metals Refining Company Limited which is located at the Abuja International Airport is set out to work with miners to ensure access to appropriate Plant, Machinery, Equipment, and support among others.

TOYIN ADEBAYO, ABUJA

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister , Malam Muhammad Musa Bello had chaired a meeting of the FCT Administration and leadership of the FCT Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and League of FCT Imams Initiative to review the guidelines issued by the Presidential Task Force on COVID 19 particularly as they concern places of worship.

Reviewing the guidelines, the meeting received briefings from the FCT COVID 19 Emergency Response Team on the situation of the pandemic in the FCT.

As well as the report of the Committee set up by the  Minister on May 19 2020, to draw up protocols to be adopted for possible re-opening of places of worship, was equally received at the meeting.

After extensive deliberations, the meeting agreed to adopt the Guidelines as released by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 with regards to the re-opening of places of worship in the FCT under the second phase of the ease of lockdown for the next four weeks.

The Minister, expressed the appreciation of the FCT Administration to the religious leaders for their cooperation and commitment towards a safe re-opening of places of worship in the Territory.

He urged residents to use the opportunity provided by the re-opening of Churches and Mosques to pray fervently for the early end to the Covid -19 pandemic.

Similarly, the religious leaders expressed their appreciation to the FCT Administration for always consulting and taking into consideration the opinions of the religious organisations on important societal issues like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following this consensus, between the FCT Administration and the religious leaders, the protocols  guiding the re-opening of places of worship in the Territory are as follows: All places of worship must sign up to full compliance with all aspects of non- pharmaceutical interventions required to protect the public from COVID-19, including but not limited to:  Ensuring the supply of running water and soap/alcohol sanitisers at entry and exit points and in all high-contact locations including bathrooms;  Worshippers must sanitise their hands before entry;

 Provision of temperature checks before entry; and Mandatory use of face masks.

In addition, Strongly discourage all close contact including shaking hands, hugging, kissing, handing out of materials and sharing of worship implements including prayer mats, musical organs, microphones etc; Churches and mosques within the FCT must limit the capacity of their facilities to allow for physical distancing of at least 2 meters between persons. Religious leaders are encouraged to consider the use of floor/surface markings to guide distancing and also encourage people from same household to stay together; Volunteers providing support at places of worship should be limited to exact numbers needed and none should have an underlying medical condition or be above the age of 55 years; and The leadership of the mosques/churches will be responsible for full compliance with these rules.

They are expected to limit congregational contact times, with places of worship only opening for regular church and mosque services;

Churches are to open from 5am and close by 8pm and each service shall be for a maximum of 1 hour with an interval of 30 mins in between services to allow time for disinfection; Mosques are to open 15 mins before Adhan and close 10 mins after prayers for the five prayers. Waiting period between Adhan and Iqamah should not be more than 10 minutes. Prayers are to be shortened to reduce duration of contact between congregations; For Friday prayers, mosques in the FCT are to open 20 minutes before prayers and close 20 minutes after prayers. Total time for Friday prayers including sermons should not exceed 1 hour; and  Islamiyah schools, All-Night Vigils, Sunday Schools and children activities are to remain suspended. For mosques, only the five daily prayers and Friday prayer services are allowed;

More so, Mass gatherings that make compliance with physical distancing impossible are not allowed.  Prayer sessions should be staggered if necessary, to encourage greater opportunity for physical distancing.  Worshippers are encouraged to sign up for preferred service time and virtual worship option should be made available; Churches and mosques should make provisions for  separate entry and exit points and measures should be taken  to direct the flow of people to avoid crowding and breach of physical distancing rules; There should be no social gatherings either before or after worship; and Business outlets within the church or mosque premises should remain closed.

Speaking on the vulnerable individuals such as those aged 55 years and above, those with impaired immune systems (e.g. HIV, cancer treatment) and underlying co-morbidities such as diabetes and heart disease are hereby advised to stay at home and consider remote participation or non-contact attendance such as  drive-in services.

Improve environmental hygiene and avoid surface contamination; Churches and mosques are advised to make their premises free of carpets to allow easy and regular disinfection of floors and furniture; All  windows in churches and mosques should be kept open during services and the use of non-enclosed spaces/open air services  are encouraged  to be used as much as possible; High-touch surfaces, high traffic areas, common areas, and bathrooms should be frequently cleaned and disinfected and Those responsible for sanitation should use dilute bleach (1000ppm) to disinfect all surfaces after removal of visible dirt.  infected persons should be kept out to reduce the risk of onward transmission

On Public awareness campaign through effective messaging using conventional media and online outlets and placing of signages/notices at strategic locations. This should address common symptoms, risk of transmission, vulnerability to severe illness, etc; Worshippers should be encouraged not to attend in person if experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 including fever, cough, shortness of breath or have had close contact with an infected person in the last 14 days; All worshippers noted to have a temperature or are symptomatic on arrival at the place of worship should be excluded from participation; Up-to-date records of staffing including contact details and if possible, a full record of attendees at every service to enable contact tracing should be kept; and

Religious visits to homes by religious clerics are hereby discouraged.

The FCT Administration has recognized the importance of places of worship in our social and cultural way of life. They have equally been proven to be major sources of easy spread of the disease. It is therefore imperative that all places of worship adhere very strictly to the guidelines enunciated above.

The meeting also acknowledged that the situation of COVID-19 in the FCT is still at a very critical stage and recognizes that there is the danger that if the established protocols are not adhered to, the cases of those infected and fatalities will increase. It is therefore essential that all residents of the FCT take personal responsibility in ensuring strict compliance.