….We’re Proud Of Her As A Daughter, Gov. Caleb Mutfwang
….She’ll Take NMGS To Greater Height, Minister
…..As MAN Assures Of Continued Support, Collabo Towards Achieving Set Goals For Sector
By: The Rock Post
Seasoned geologist and public servant Ms Rose Chundung Ndong has been officially installed as the 33rd president of the Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society (NMGS), following her assumption of office 1st April, 2025.
With a distinguished career spanning over three decades, Ndong who hails from Plateau State has contributed significantly to Nigeria’s mining, petroleum, and geoscience sectors through technical excellence, policy innovation, and institutional leadership.
Delivering her inaugural address which lasted about 30 minutes, Ms Ndong boldly declared that her administration will tackle the myriad of challenges bedeviling the society to put it on the path of irreversible progress, particularly the long canvassed National Policy on Geosciences for the country, as well as other key imperatives, is achieved during her tenure.
She said, “It is with deep humility and profound gratitude that I stand before you today on the 27th of June, 2025 as the 33rd President of the Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society.
“NMGS has come a long way: From a humble beginning on the 15th of January, 1961, it has demonstrated unparalleled resilience as a foremost professional society and as the umbrella society of geosciences and mining practitioners, as well as one of the oldest in Nigeria.
“I am especially honoured to carry the touchlight by the past visionary leaders whose dedication and foresight is this society’s powerhouse. We say thank you very much for setting the foundation and starting off this society.”
“Let me begin by evoking our sacred motto, Creating and Sustaining the Riches of the Nation. This is not just a motto. It is a call to duty, a declaration of purpose and a compass that should guide every geoscientist and mining engineer across our great nation.
“This we have diligently done in the last 64 years of our existence, our collective sweat and toil have contributed massively in searching for solutions to the myriads of geosciences and mining challenges facing our nation. These challenges are still there. We’re still pushing on, but God will help us.
She, however, lamented that the efforts have not been recognised enough by the successive governments in the country, adding, “This is because we have remained quiet in our corner doing what we were trained to do. In the process, we have solved several challenges and made Nigeria a resource rich nation by our efforts with minimal recognition for our contributions to nation-building and national development.”
Speaking further, she said, “Nigeria is a land of immense natural endowment. We all know that beneath our feet lie the keys to energy independence, industrial growth, infrastructure development, environmental sustainability and job creation. But these keys can not just turn themselves. It needs us. It needs members like us, societies like us, to turn these keys.
“Only geoscientists and mining engineers possess the unique training tools and insights to map and unlock the full spectrum of Nigeria’s mineral wealth, design and manage responsible mining and extractive operations, identify the needs and prospects for hydrocarbons exploitation, evaluate your hazards, and ensure safer infrastructure, develop groundwater system to combat water scarcity, drive transition to renewable energy through critical mineral exploration, mitigate the impact of climate change through geotechnical and environmental expertise.
She challenged professionals live up to their responsibilities, saying, “Nigeria is a land of immense natural endowment. We all know that beneath our feet lie the keys to energy independence, industrial growth, infrastructure development, environmental sustainability, and job creation.
“But these keys cannot just turn themselves. It needs us. It needs members like us, societies like us, to turn these keys. Only geoscientists and mining engineers possess the unique training tools and insights to map and unlock the full spectrum of Nigeria’s mineral wealth, design and manage responsible mining and extractive operations, identify needs and prospects for hydrocarbons exploitation, evaluate hazards, and ensure safer infrastructure, develop groundwater system to combat water scarcity, drive transition to renewable energy through critical mineral exploration, mitigate the impact of climate change through geotechnical and environmental expertise.
“All these are not abstract goals, they are urgent national imperatives, and they sit in the core of the NMGS objectives. Therefore, in the quest to reclaim lost ground and bring back to the consciousness of Nigerians, the humongous contributions of the professionals within the NMGS, to nation building, we embarked on a set of reforms of how we conduct our affairs as a society.
“In the last 10 years, these reforms had placed the NMGS as a player in the public domain, and our relevance and contribution to the nation’s development are becoming more pronounced.
“My fellow professionals were not mere spectators in Nigeria’s development were custodians of its hidden wealth and architects of sustainable futures.”
Highlighting priority areas as chairman of the new council which includes continuous constructive activism and engagement with government and other stakeholders at all levels, completion of NMGS edifice in Abuja, internationalisation of the society among others, she vowed to ensure that a National Policy on Geosciences which has been a subject of concern is rigorously pursued and achieved during her tenure as President.
She explained, “The Nigerian nation is due for Geoscience and mining policies. This policy would be a document that would enunciate the various aspirations of the nation as regards the Geosciences and mining professions. The document will espouse the roles of geoscientists, miners, and well as the means of achieving their goals. This would be one of the major items that we will devote our attention.
“Great nations of the world have very sound geoscience policies that have been used maximally to drive their growth and advancements. We will work with relevant government agencies, key stakeholders to ensure that a national geoscience policy is put together for Nigeria. We’ll be needing all the help and expertise we can muster to deliver on this goal.”
In his opening remarks earlier, the chairman of the occasion and executive governor of Plateau state, Caleb Mutfwang, congratulated her on behalf of the government and people of the state, saying they were very proud of her as an illustrious daughter of the state who has worked so hard to finally emerge president of the society in a sector believed to be exclusively for men.
Tasking the NMGS, with its team of over 6,000 professionals on the development of the sector for the overall prosperity of the national and sub national economies, Governor Mutfwang said, “There is no denying the fact that fossil energy is on its way out. It’s a matter
of time. Therefore, we need to step on the pedal and advance the production of the transition minerals that can make an impact on our economy. We therefore need some more proactive steps.
The mineral sector is particularly bedeviled by so many ills today. We attempted to correct some of them, but the pushback is still there.”
Admitting that a lot of challenges are still stifling the mining and minerals sector’s growth, the governor urged the new council under Ms Ndong to rise to the occasion, and change the country’s narrative from professing minerals to production, even locally to create jobs and wealth.
“Geosciences is a very wide area,
and I know that there are many inherent benefits that we are here to maximise.
Studies that have been conducted over the years in the water sector and several other areas of importance have not been put to use, and I hope that we can get to the point as a nation where we make this the cornerstone of our economic progress,” he said.
Speaking further, he said, “The time has come
when we should no longer be exporting raw mineral materials. We must add value. That is the only way we can grow our economy.
“And for me, in my state particularly,
we are looking forward to harnessing those partnerships that will add value to the kind of minerals that are explored in our state.
But on the flip side, we are also losing
valuable acres of land
due to activities of the past.
Today, on the Plateau we have over 4000
mineral sites that have been wasted, and
we can not use them for agriculture. either.
“Some of the water bodies are still
containing gaseous substances that are hazardous, and we are looking at how to remedy those ones. That is one area of concern that you and your team should look into.”
He also admonished the professionals to initiate and take a lead in a national conversation concerning the security of mines around the country.
On his part, Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, congratulated Ndong, expressing the optimism in her capacity to take the society to a greater height.
Minister Alake who was represented by the Director General, Nigeria Mining Cadastral Office (NMCO), Engr Simon Nkom, reminded the audience of the 7-Point Agenda earlier unveiled by the minister to tackle the numerous challenges bedeviling the sector in pursuit of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Tinubu-led federal government, adding that value addition, safety of mining environment, as well as benefit to host communities were adequately captured and being implemented.
The Installation Guest Lecturer, Dr Daytona Olaiwolan Francis, pioneer and founding managing director, Niger Delta Exploration and Production Group PLC (now Aradel Holdings PLC), started his lecture by congratulating the new president on the feat achieved in becoming the third woman president over the society since inception, and 16 long years after the second.
Fatona described Ms Ndong’s election as a “statement to your distinguished service, professional integrity, and incontinence in professional communities, in your leadership and your person.”
“We charge you with a vital mandate to be a voice of expertise,” he said.
He went down memory lane and traced the checkered history of the mining sector from when it was booming till the discovery of oil, leading to the long neglect of the sector by successive governments and the mineral wealth lying largely untapped to date. He charged the professionals and all other stakeholders to rise up to the occasion for Nigeria to benefit from her rich mineral endowment.
In what could be described as his farewell speech to pave the way for the installation proper, the immediate past president (IPP) of the society, Prof. Akinade Olatunji, harped on the need for local investors to be encouraged to not only work in the mines, but also own them as is the case in the oil and gas industry, even as he expressed the determination of the body to achieve that.
“We don’t just aspire to be working in the mines, we want to see the mines owned by Nigerians, dominating it; we want to own the mines, just as the pioneers in the oil and gas sector own that sector,” he said, adding that it is the only way to achieve meaningful progress for economic turn around at the national and sub national levels.
Expressing delight that he was handing over to Ms Ndong as the third woman President, Prof. Olatunji congratulated and appreciated her for her unflinching support while serving as his vice president, which, according to him, was her second term as vice, having served the previous administration in the same capacity, adding that she worked very hard and so deserved the honour being done to her.
Congratulating the celebrant on
behalf of the Miners Association of Nigeria (MAN) and all affiliated bodies in the country, the association’s national president, Dele Ayanleke, assured her of continued support and collaboration of the private sector to ensure that the new council succeeds in taking the sector to an enviable height.
The Senator representing the Plateau South Senatorial District and former governor of the state, Simon Lalong, and the Gbong Gwom Jos and Chairman, Plateau State Council of Chiefs and Emirs, HRH Da Jacob Gyang Buba who gave his royal blessing as vote of thanks at the end of the programme, were among the eminent dignitaries in attendance.
