FG commits to advancing agency as an international standard.
The Federal Government said on Saturday that it plans to update and expand its geological survey operations to reflect current global standards.
Director-General (D-G) Dr. Abdulrazaq Garba of the Nigeria Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) told reporters as much.Garba said the agency had trained a lot of people to do geological surveys and that the goal was to make sure the NGSA established the necessary global standards.
“Having been in the system and having understood most of the problems or challenges in the system,” he said, “when I came on board as the agency’s D-G, I came up with three plans: the first is the generation of data for development; the second is to put in place infrastructural development in the sector that is within the system.”
Garba says that the third goal is to increase industry-wide strength in capabilities.He claims that his team travelled to several geological surveys and institutions throughout the world and learned that all of the staff members, both technical and non-technical, are geoscientists.
As one staff member put it, “The non-technical members of the staff work together with the technical, and they have a very good mutual understanding.” Therefore, we make it a point to provide extensive training for all of our employees, from the technical to the administrative to the accounting departments.”Because the NGSA is a research institution, we need to continuously build the capacity of the people,” he explained.
The head of the NGSA claims that the organisation has invested much in training and has made genuine attempts to form genuine partnerships with relevant universities.He said the NGSA worked with embedded people on numerous programmes and engaged with Colten University on capacity building.
He said that enrolling these individuals was about more than just getting them to work and make money; it was also about giving them access to the necessary knowledge and practise.We insisted on having what are called “internationally recognised competent persons” (CPCs) at the helm of the project before we would launch it.
That the capacity development of the trained employees will enable them to conduct investigations and report in accordance with international policies is why embedding staff members must be involved. Our support staff members are also educated about the international accounting reporting standard using an online platform.
When it comes to accounting, “we make sure that our accountants are well-trained.” Our server houses all of the system’s components, and we guarantee that all of our staff will adhere to global best practises while reporting.”In addition, our administrative staffers are sent to the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON) in Lagos State for training to keep them up to date on recent developments,” he continued.
The director-general claims that NGSA staff members visited other African countries including Morocco and Nairobi to teach people who aren’t scientists how to do better geological surveys.He also mentioned that the company collaborated with the China Geological Survey Bureau Development and Research Centre, and that some of the company’s staff are currently teaching at the China University of Geological Survey.