Digital Innovation: Minister lauds MCO on NIRA Award,

charges Agencies on innovation for revenue generation

 Mining May 24, 2022May 24, 2022  Francis Kadiri

Director-General, Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office (MCO), Engr Obadiah Simon Nkom (Right) presenting the NIRA
Award of Most Innovative Public Sector Organization bestowed on the MCO to the Minister of Mines and Steel
Development, Arc Olamilekan Adegbite (middle), while the Permanent Secretary, Dr Mrs Oluwatoyin Akinlade looks
on, in Abuja, on Monday.  PHOTO CREDIT: Francis John

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc Olamilekan Adegbite has called on

Agencies of the ministry to explore the opportunities afforded by innovation toward

increasing the revenue generated by the sector, stating that public sector

establishments must exhibit ingenious strategies and play their crucial roles to ensure

the realization of set goals for the sector, especially the diversification of the economy.

Adegbite, who gave the charge during the presentation of the award of ‘Best Digital

Innovation of Government in 2022,’ bestowed on the Mining Cadastre Office (MCO) by

Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), to the Minister, in Abuja, on Monday,

commended the Director-General of the MCO, Engr Obadiah Simon Nkom for exhibiting

sterling leadership qualities that led to the recognition, stating that Agencies in the

sector must emulate the feat.

While saying that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari did well to provide

funds needed for the development of the mining sector, the minister explained that as

part of extra budgetary funding, the ministry was granted N30bn from the Natural

Resources Development Fund in 2017, and was further granted a World Bank support

fund through the MinDiver project, stating that the combination of both funding

strengthened the ability of the sector to achieve critical goals.

While commending the MCO for the quantum leap it scored in revenue generation for

the sector over the past four years, he noted that the mineral licensing agency scaled

revenue projections as it sometimes doubled previously generated revenue within one

year.

According to the minister, ‘there is no doubt that mines and steel sector is the way to go

to diversify the economy from oil and gas dependency,’ adding that the Nigerian mining

sector is currently getting international attention needed to propel economic

diversification.

The Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Mrs. Oluwatoyin Akinlade said described

the presentation ceremony as ‘a very remarkable occasion in the annals of the ministry

as we celebrate one of our own.’

‘We celebrate the outstanding performance of one of our agencies, the Mining Cadastre

Office.’

She explained that ‘digitalization and innovation are core elements of the service

improvement agenda of the Head of Service of the Federation,’ adding that it is

gratifying that the MCO has been rated the best in digital innovation among the Federal

establishments in Nigeria for the Year 2022.

‘I therefore specially congratulate the Director General of the MCO, Engr Simon Nkom

and all the staff for achieving the feat,’ she said.

While saying that the accomplishment did not come without challenges, she

commended the Engr Nkom-led Management of the MCO for commitment to set goals,

saying that they were not deterred and were able to forge ahead.

She also commended Arc Olamilekan Adegbite for his ‘focused leadership, and for

giving clear direction to the sector.’

The Permanent Secretary enjoined other agencies and directorates in the ministry to

key into the improvement agenda of the Head of Service of the Federation, especially in

the area of digitalization that can be used to address emerging challenges.

She said innovation and ICT expertise will highly improve service delivery of the MCO,

assuring that processes will soon be automated in the ministry to improve transparency

and workflow.

‘A couple of months ago, we received notification from the anti corruption and

transparency unit of the ICPC to the SCTU unit that MMSD Transparency index has

improved from 26% in 2020 to 76% in 2021. Transparency is the way to go. We are

transparent in processes and service delivery.’

‘This is the way to go: we are transparent in our services and we are diligent in our

processes,’ she added.

Director General, MCO, Engr Simon Nkom who officially presented the award to the

minister, thanked the minister for the ‘support and open cheque he selfishly gave the

MCO,’ adding that it is responsible for the success of the agency.

While saying that the MCO has already started receiving applications online, Nkom said

the web domain is soon to be open for all.

While saying that NIRA is a Nigerian unique identity on the world wide web, Nkom

explained that .ng is the critical national resource of Nigeria, adding that the contribution

of MCO to building the economy using technology and uplifting the image of .ng locally

and internationally and stimulating the development of local content on the world wide

web earned it the award of the most innovative public sector organization.
PHOTO NEWS: MCO Sets Standard For Digital
Innovation In Nigeria, Dedicates NIRA Award To
Minister
 News May 24, 2022May 24, 2022  Francis Kadiri

The Director General, Mining Cadastre Office (MCO),

Engr Simon Nkom has dedicated the NIRA award won
by his agency to the Minister of Mines and Steel
Development, Arc Olamilekan Adegbite.
He dedicated the award yesterday, saying that the
minister provided sterling leadership and support that
enabled the agency to win big in the 2022 NIRA
Awards.
The Minister was delighted that MCO emerged as Year
2022 Most Innovative Public Sector Organisation in
Nigeria despite contesting with organizations like the
National Communications Commission (NCC), Federal
Inland Revenue Service (FIRA), Corporate Affairs
Commission (CAC) and the National Pension
Commission (PENCOM) among others. Adegbite said
the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to
funding the sector paved way for the big win of the
MCO.
The Permanent Secretary, Dr Mrs Oluwatoyin Akinlade
congratulated the MCO and commended the minister
for his support to the agencies, while charging all
agencies and directorates of the ministry to key into the
innovation and digitalization agenda the Head of
Service (HoS) of the Federation. Photo Credit: Francis
John

Director General, MCO, Engr O. S. Nkom (Right) presenting to the Minister of Mines and Steel

Development, Arc Olamilekan Adegbite (Middle), the ‘Year 2022 NIRA Award of Most

Innovative Public Sector Organization In Nigeria’ bestowed on the MCO while the Permanent

Secretary, MMSD, Dr Mrs Oluwatoyin Akinlande looks on..  

         

  
Digital Innovation award to MCO is a
result of improved funding – Minister
May 24, 2022

By Victoria Onehi

Minister of Mines and Steel Development Arc. Olamilekan Adegbite has said the award for
best in digital innovation for the year 2022 recently received by the Nigerian Mining
Cadastre Office (NMCO) was a result of improved funding by the the Federal Government
to the Ministry.

The Minister said this on Monday when the Director General (DG),Nigerian Mining
Cadastre Office (MCO) Engr Obadiah Simon Nkom, presented the award to him in his
office in Abuja.

it would be recalled that MCO was recently awarded the best in digital innovation in the
Federal Government category by the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) for
the year 2022.ng.

He said, “We must give kudos to whom it is due because MCO would not have been where
it is today if not for the administration of the President Muhammadu Buhari. And I refer to
this because the sector for the first time in history is enjoying some funding that it would
not have had.

“The ministry had this extra budgetary funding which was given to us out of the natural
resources fund. N30 billion was granted sometime in 2017. We also have the World Bank
facilitated project, MINDIVER (Mineral Sector Support for Economic Diversification
Project), in the ministry as well.

“So with a combination of these two funding, which essentially is from the federal
government of President Muhammadu Buhari. It has uplifted the sector to where we are
today, where we can celebrate the achievement of MCO.

“So this in essence, is a recognition of the attention the federal government has paid to
the sector and we thank the government for that.”

The Minister praised the MCO for making the Ministry proud by winning first place in the
Federal Government category for digital innovation in 2022.ng.

NiRA is a non-governmental organization entrusted with managing Nigeria’s country code

top-level domain (ccTLD), dot.ng, which was formed in 2005 by the order of the President
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He said that MCO had gone through a lot in ensuring that the sector moved from analogue
to digital to compete with the international standard.
“MCO has come a long way from the days of analogue record taking, issuance of licences
among others but the office is now operating online; everything is now conducted online.

The Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Mrs. Oluwatoyin Akinlade described the
presentation ceremony as a very remarkable occasion in the annals of the ministry.

‘We celebrate the outstanding performance of one of our agencies, the Mining Cadastre
Office.’

She explained that ‘digitalization and innovation are core elements of the service
improvement agenda of the Head of Service of the Federation,’ adding that it is gratifying
that the MCO has been rated the best in digital innovation among the Federal
establishments in Nigeria for the Year 2022.

‘I therefore specially congratulate the Director General of the MCO, Engr Simon Nkom and
all the staff for achieving the feat,’ she said.

Earlier, DG MCO Engi. Obadiah Nkom appreciated the minister and the Permanent
Secretary for the support given to NMCO to operate and compete at the international
level.

Nigeria Mining Cadestre Office, MCO, competed with other nominees such as Federal

Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), Federal Road
Safety Commission (FRSC), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and National Pension
Commission (PENCOM) and emerged the winner with highest votes.
NMCO’s Digital Innovation Award Result Of
Improved Funding – Minister
 Summit Post  May 24, 2022 

Arc. Olamilekan Adegbite, Nigeria’s Minister of Mines and Steel Dev’t

By SUNDAY ABBA, Abuja

Minister of Mines and Steel Development Arc. Olamilekan Adegbite has stated that the
award for best in digital innovation among the federal establishments in Nigeria for the
year 2022 recently received by the Nigerian Mining Cadastre Office (NMCO) was a
result of improved funding by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

The Minister made the observation in his Abuja office on Monday when the director
general (DG), NMCO, Engr Obadiah Simon Nkom, presented the award to him for the
ministry.

He said, “We must give kudos to whom it is due because MCO would not have been where it is
today if not for the administration of the President Muhammadu Buhari. And I refer to this
because the sector for the first time in history is enjoying some funding that it would not have
had.
“The ministry had this extra budgetary funding which was given to us out of the natural
resources fund. N30 billion was granted sometime in 2017. We also have the World
Bank facilitated project, MINDIVER (Mineral Sector Support for Economic Diversification
Project), in the ministry as well.

“So with a combination of these two funding, which essentially is from the federal
government of President Muhammadu Buhari. It has uplifted the sector to where we are
today, where we can celebrate the achievement of MCO.

“So this in essence, is a recognition of the attention the federal government has paid to
the sector and we thank the government for that.”

The Minister who expressed delight over the feat achieved by Cadastre office
congratulated the DG and the entire staff of the office, describing the experience as a
pleasant surprise.

It’s a delight to be here this afternoon. To be celebrating one of our way

He said, “When this award was coming up, and I learnt about the people in the same
category with the MCO vying for this, I just virtually congratulated the DG, that well you
have tried, at least to have come this far to be one of the top six.

“Because when you are talking about Nigerian Communications Commission, the FIRS,
all these are very rich agencies, and I thought they would be very deep in ICT, but it was
a pleasant surprise, not because we did not deserve it, but the fact that the organisers
recognised not just the fact that the system is in place, but it has been managed in the
last one year. So I say congratulations again, to the DG, MCO and his team.”

The Minister who traced the evolution of the MCO’s activities to the analogue era of
using polygonal geometry for delineating areas of mining, said what the office now use
which makes it a lot easier is the Block Cadastre System that the whole world has now
embraced.

“They’ve come a long way from the days of the analog record keeping, analog way of
approaching the agency for whatever business you want to do.

“So the fact that today you can transact business with MCO online in real time is a giant
leap for the sector. And this has also manifested because MCO is revenue baby. We’ve
had quantum leap from the revenue generated by MCO, from the years that I’ve been in
charge to the last year 2021 that was reported last.
We’ve had Quantum Leap, at times, doubling the revenue of the previous year in the
next year,” Adegbite affirmed.

He however used the opportunity to appeal to the federal government for more funding
for the sector, adding
“This is a sector that is that needs a lot of funds for it to develop. And there is no doubt
that mines and steel is the way to go to diversify the economy from the oil and gas
dependency. We are at the point now where we’re beginning to get attention
internationally for this sector”.
According to the Minister, some of the investments made in the sector in recent years
have already started yielding results and there is more to come.

He said the NIMEP project has produced fantastic data results that people are not
clamoring for.

“Just recently I approved the sale of data to would be investors, and there are many
more that are coming for that. I’ve asked Dr Garba to create a dedicated account for that
so that we can render returns to the federal government from that,” he said.

In her welcome address earlier, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr (Mrs)
Olawatoyin Akinlade, said the feat achieved by the MCO is part of the ministry’s drive to
operate with the highest level of transparency.

“This is part of the drive to improve transparency. We have decided to really key into
this area of utilisation and it is a very big project in the ministry and you can see that
innovation and ICT expertise will highly improve the transparency in the processes of
the MCO. Very soon we will have all our processes automated,” she said.

She enjoin other agencies and directors of the ministry to key into the service
improvement agenda of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, particularly in the
area of digitalisation and innovation, by developing new ideas that can be used in
addressing emerging challenges.

Mrs Akinlade thanked the Minister for his support which, according to her, led to the
achievement of the feat by the MCO, while congratulating the DG and his team of
workers as well as the entire staff of the ministry.

Speaking earlier, the DG, NMCO, Engr Nkom who expressed gratitude to the Minister
for his support all the while said his support and open cheque has contributed a lot to
making the office be where it is now.

want to humbly respectfully appreciate the Honourable Minister for the support and the
open check. He has given let me say selfishly the Nigerian mining cadastre office to be
able to now get to the point at which we are today.

He hinted that the MCO had migrated its operations online and will launch it for the
public, adding that applications are already being received and process online.

Engr Nkom received the award of Best Digital Innovation in federal government’s
5th .Ng Award category for the year 2022 on behalf of NMCO at an Award Night
organised by the Nigerian Internet Registration Association (NIRA).

NIRA, a non- governmental body established by the order of the President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria to manage Nigeria’s country code, presented the award to the best
portal of the federal government with excellent user experience which promote
innovation and local content development with the .ng domain name.
NMCO which was nominated by the public and assessed by the Award Jury as fulfilling
the criteria for the category, competed with other nominees namely; Federal Inland
Revenue Service (FIRS); Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC); Federal Road
Safety Commission (FRSC); Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and the National
Pension Commission (PENCOM) and emerged winner with the highest number of votes
in favour of the Agency.

FG’s funding behind MCO’s emergence as

Winner of NiRA’s 2022 Award — Adegbite
VANGUARD NEWS

By Gabriel Ewepu – Abuja

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc Olamilekan Adegbite,

Monday, revealed Federal Government’s funding behind Mining Cadastre
Office’s success and emergence as winner of Nigeria Internet Regulatory
Association, NiRA, 2022 Award ahead of other reputable agencies in the
Federal Civil Service.

Adegbite who made the disclosure in his remarks during the ceremony of
‘Presentation of Award Won by the Mining Cadastre Office, MCO to The
Honourable Minister of Mines and Steel Development’ at the Ministry’s
headquarter in Abuja.

MCO won NiRA’s ‘Digital Innovation in the Federal Government’ in 2022,

based on independent assessment on its digital and innovative performance.
He said: “It was a pleasure in surprise not that we did not deserve it for that
the organizers recognizes, not that the system is the best but how it is
managed in the last one year.
“We must give kudos to whom is due MCO will not be where it is today if
not for President Muhammadu Buhari, I referred to it because the sector in
its first time in history is enjoying some funding that we do not have.

“The Ministry had this extra-budgeting funding which was given to us out of
the Natural Resource Fund which was granted sometime in 2017. We also
have the World Bank facilitated projects, MINDIVER, in the Ministry as
well.

“So with the combination of these two funding which essentially is from the
Federal Government of President Muhammadu Buhari, they have uplifted the
sector to where we are today, where we can celebrate the achievement of the
MCO. This in essence is the recognition the federal government has paid to
the sector. We thank the federal government for that.

“The MCO has come a long way from analogue keeping of records, make
inquiry doing business or apply for a license. They have come from that
distance so that today you can transact business with MCO online real time,
this is a giant leap for the sector, and this also manifested because MCO is
our revenue ‘baby’.

“We have quantum leap on the revenue by MCO from the years I have being
in charge to 2021 that was reported last. We had quantum leap at times
doubling the revenue of the previous year and the next year.”

He also said the feat achieved by MCO is as a result of synergy of all

agencies under the Ministry, and also called for more collaboration and
synergy, and added that, “To who more is given much is expected.”
Meanwhile, in a remark, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr
Oluwatoyin Akinlade, said the feat achieved by the MCO is a step in the right
direction as taking the bold initiative to achieve Head of the Civil Service of
the Federation’s Digitalization and Innovation Service Improvement Agenda.

Akinlade commended and congratulated the Director General of the MCO,

Engr Obadiah Nkom and all the staff for achieving the feat.

According to her, the leadership style of the Minister for giving paratastals
under the Ministry direction led to MCO’s emergence as top among all
federal parastatals by the Nigeria Internet Registration Association, NiRA.

However, she tasked other agencies under the Ministry including directors to
key into the area of digitalization and innovation of the Head of Civil Service
of the Federation, particularly in the area of digitalization and innovation by
developing new ideas that can be used in addressing emerging challenges.

She also said very soon the Ministry will have all processes automated to
improve transparency and workflow.

She said: “It is therefore very gratifying for us that the Mining Cadastre
Office, MCO, have been rated the best in digital innovation among the
federal establishments in Nigeria for the year 2022.

“I therefore congratulate the Director General of the MCO, Engr Obadiah

Nkom and all the staff for achieving this feat.

“This accomplishment did not come without challenges but you were not
deterred instead you forged ahead and today we are celebrating your agency.

“As part of our drive we have decided to key into the area of digitalization,
and it is very key project in the Ministry, and you can see that innovations
and ICT expertise will highly improve the transparency in processes of the
MCO.
“Our transparency index in this Ministry has improved from six per cent in
2020 to 76 per cent in 2021, and this is the way to go, when we are
transparent in our processes, we are diligent in our services, and we have seen
the result in celebrating one of us here.”

The Director General, MCO, Engr Obadiah Nkom, explained that the NiRA
Award for 2022, came on the heels of the “Third Upgrade eMC+ – Online
Mineral Title Administration system: Upgrading and Automation of the
Mining Cadastre Office for Online Applications, e-Recording, Archiving and
Establishment of Mining Cadastre Offices in the Six Geo-political Zones of
Nigeria, currently Mineral Title Applications can be received on eMC+ at all
MCO Zonal Offices.

“Development and implementation of a computerized online Mineral Title

Administration system (establishment of a web-based Administration and
Management of Mineral Title system) – 2018 – DATE currently the office
has commenced the use of the new upgraded system eMC+.

“One can humbly say that the electronic mining cadastre migration to online,
and very soon we are going to launch into the public but meanwhile, we are
receiving applications online, the domain is going to be opened for all.

“1,740 new applications have been received and are being processed using
eMC+. Our website is user friendly with information on Mineral Titles;
Guidelines for Mineral Title Application and other information as it relates to
the MCO. ‘Generally, the site reflects the organizations products and services
and is available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week with local content
development.”