*Dr. Oladele Alake, Minister for Solid Minerals Development, pledges Nigeria’s support to the global campaign against lead poisoning to save the lives of vulnerable citizens, advocating more enlightenment on the threat posed to persons in the mining of gold and other minerals in the country

Alexander Davis | 绿帽献妻

Dr. Oladele Alake, Honourable Minister for Solid Minerals Development, has pledged Nigeria’s support to the global campaign against lead poisoning to save the lives of vulnerable citizens.

Alake assured industry stakeholders of this move while reviewing the exhibition on the lead campaign at the Lead-Free Future event organised by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly (UNGA79), in New York, United States (US).

The Minister also announced plans to procure additional equipment for the detection of lead in communities plagued by lead poisoning.

Dr. Alake advocated more enlightenment on the threat posed to persons in the mining of gold and other minerals.

Segun Tomori, Special Assistant to the Minister on Media, Friday, September 27, 2024, stated Dr. Alake also emphasised that cleaning up lead from communities would restore child and maternal health in the West African country.

The need to factor lead reduction in the process of local value addition is being championed by the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, said the Minister.

Welcoming the Minister to the exhibition, the USAID representative, Dr. Casey Bartrem appreciated the commitment of the minister, showing rock samples retrieved from Zamfara State in Nigeria during the clean-up that followed a lead poisoning incident.

Dr. Bartrem said the USAID hoped to collaborate with the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development (MSMD) in reducing lead in mineral extraction and processing in Nigeria.