The Minerals and Miners Centre (MMC), Abuja, has stressed the need for safety training at the mining communities across Nigeria.
The director of MMC, Dr Comfort Asokoro-Ogaji, who made this call yesterday during an engagement with Kogi Women Miners Welfare Association, expressed shock and sadness at the risky manner the women miners went about the business.
She lamented that the need to feed and pay school fees had pushed rural women miners to the mining pits unprepared, unguarded and exposed to extortion and poor working conditions.
In her remarks at the MMC’s initiative for women miners’ meeting held to mark the International Women’s Day, with representatives from Nigeria, Tanzania, Mali, South Africa and other African countries, Dr Asokoro called on women to support other women in the field by providing mentorship opportunities, especially safety trainings at the grassroots.
According to her, women form the majority workforce in many states in Nigeria and should get the attention required in policy formulation processes.
Amongst key recommendations, the MMC wants countries in Africa to make mining laws and economic policies gender-inclusive continuously.
“The need to advance women’s social protection at the mine and home has also become very urgent. Emphasis should be placed on gender differences in occupational health and safety efforts at mine sites.
“Capacity building is key to growth. African women should build capacities in their areas of interest in the commodity value chain. Women in the sector should strive for the top through capacity building and change their mindsets to think growth and expansion in the commodity value chain and relevant extension services,” she said.
African women were also urged to collaborate and consider having corporate partnerships for solid minerals processing as export business is a capital intensive venture.
Dr Asokoro-Ogaji also urged universities to collaborate with the MMC to create centres of excellence across the continent for innovations and capacity building.
The climax of the event was the presentation of a “Gold Saving Award” to the Kogi Women Miners’ Welfare Association leader Mrs Janet Ahiaba, for depositing her car at the hospital as surety for the women who survived an accident to get treated.
The Centre also used the International Women’s Day commemoration to sensitise off-takers of mineral ores on the need to ensure responsible mineral sourcing practices in rural and urban areas in Nigeria.
