NSRMEA boss gives stewardship, honours 25 employees

Two years after her appointment as the Acting Director-General and Chief Executive of the National Steel Raw Materials Exploration Agency (NSRMEA), Hajia Rabi Sodangi has disclosed that the agency has fully recovered from the path of failure and abandonment and now poised to contribute substantially to the nation’s economic growth and development.

Sodangi, a former Director of Finance and Human Resources of the agency before her current position, said parts of the transformational advancement experienced under her watch include the agency’s successful recovery of all its equipment at abandoned project sites; repairs and reassignment of same for operation; procurement of new and modern tools; aggressive and sustained human capital development for the personnel; and a new revenue generation drive, which has produced the unprecedented sum of N80million remitted to the Federal Government’s Treasury Single Account under the year in review.

The Acting DG, who disclosed this during a Stewardship and Award Presentation programme held at the agency’s head office in Kaduna State, explained that the giant strides were made possible by the dedication of the members of staff of the agency and more importantly the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government’s interest in investing and unlocking the potentials of the sector, making the agency a serious partaker in the nation’s quest for wealth creation and inclusive economic growth for the populace.

At the event, 25 employees of the agency were honored with different categories of awards—seven for meritorious, six for long service and 12 as recipients of certificates of commendation.

In her remarks, Sodangi explained, that the awards was to recognize outstanding performance of the employees that were honored and as well motivate others to strive to attain same recognition through improved performance.She however explained, while giving her stewardship, in specifics, that the equipment repaired between 2016 and 2017 by her agency include rigs, bulldozer and towing van, including all field vehicles, which are now actively engaged.

According to her, “on our approach to retooling the agency for enhanced performance, we have successfully procured two Drilling Rigs (one crawler mounted and one truck mounted). We have equally resuscitated our R & D Laboratory with the procurement of modern sampling and testing gadgets such as (one) Automated Fume Cupboard, (one) Carbon Surphur Analyzer, (one) Digital PH Meter, (one) Expert GPS, and two Chain Saws.

“Under this dispensation, we have also procured exploration equipment for facilitation of our job. The items are: Hi- Target GPS; Metallic and Water Geophysical Survey Equipment (BR800-P); and three Hand Held XRF. In addition, we’ve purchased two Nissan Pick-ups; one Nissan Bus, one Ford Ranger (4-wheel drive) and one Water Tanker,” she adds.

She noted that of higher significance were the 15 successful exploration projects carried out by the agency in the last two years, with a significant “break in Okada Coal site when we discovered 2 to 3 meters coal seams and up to 3-seams in some holes where former geological report indicated 1meter-seam to have existed,” prompting “the agency’s team to be recognized as the best driller in Africa by SGS for excellent core recovery…

“We also change the geological history in Orba coal site in Enugu State where our geophysics study indicated the presence of more Kaolin than coal and our drilling operation proved so.

“At Ebiya Iron Ore Project in Ajaokuta Local Government, Kogi State, we have recorded detailed geological mapping and geophysical survey and drilling of four core holes. The thickness of iron ore at the first three drilled core holes ranged from 0.2m to 0.4m. Though the results were not encouraging, but the fourth and last core hole gave a good result of 14m iron or thickness. This, no doubt, has opened another chapter of exploration at this site despite the fact that the project was to be completed by the 2016 budget.

“On the spot chemical analysis was done in the field using Hand Held XRF. The result showed alumina value ranging from 40% to 70% (AL203). Samples have been submitted to the laboratory for confirmatory chemical analysis and also for mineralogical analysis. Samples were also sent to South Africa and China for control testing,” she added.

Sodangi concludes that in spite of the obvious challenges, NSRMEA, under her watch, in the last two years, has “fared better” and thus, she deserved a confirmation as a substantive “Director General” for the agency.

According to her, “I’m not a geologist, like many people have said, out of antagonism. But I have achieved far better than a geologist at the helms. The results are there and everybody seems to have seen it. Because for me, this job is not all about the technicality alone, managerial skill is far more important. And that is my strength