Abuja: Nigeria and Murdoch University, Western Australia, have reaffirmed their commitment to deepening knowledge transfer and professional capacity building in Nigeria’s solid minerals sector. The development followed strategic discussions held between the university’s management and a Nigerian delegation to the Africa Down Under (ADU) conference.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the delegation was led by Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, represented by Mr. Obadiah Nkom, Director-General of the Mining Cadastre Office. A statement of the event was made available to newsmen on Sunday night in Abuja by Alake’s Special Assistant on Media, Mrs. Lara Owoeye-Wise. Owoeye-Wise said Nigeria’s delegation held discussions with the university’s management, led by Prof. Dee O’Connor, Dean, School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, on the sidelines of the conference.
She highlighted that the discussions focused on the next phase of the Nigeria-Australia Resource Industry Collab
oration and Capacity Building Programme. The engagement centered on consolidating the gains of the programme’s first two cohorts and developing an expanded third phase with stronger industry exposure.
The Nigeria/Australia programme is a partnership between the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development and Murdoch University. The programme has trained two cohorts of 11 Nigerian officials each since its inauguration in June 2025. It combines technical, policy, and leadership learning with field visits, industry engagement, job shadowing, workshops, and exposure to Australia’s resources governance and mining ecosystem.
Owoeye-Wise stated that the partnership sought to provide longer practical engagement and a sharper focus on preparing Nigerian mining professionals to identify, develop, and present commercially viable opportunities. According to her, the partnership reflects the broader objective of the solid minerals ministry to build a knowledge-driven mining sector capable of attracting investment, pr
omoting responsible resource development, strengthening local expertise, and driving value addition.
The minister emphasized that knowledge transfer remained central to Nigeria’s mining reform agenda, stressing that sustainable transformation of the sector required building human capacity to absorb and apply global best practices. Alake noted that the vision was not simply to attract capital and technology into Nigeria but to ensure that Nigerians acquire the knowledge and expertise to deploy, manage, and ultimately advance those capabilities themselves.
He stated that the proposed third cohort would build on the experience of the first two intakes by introducing stronger industry immersion, internships, or job-shadowing opportunities. It will also feature live industry case studies and training to enable participants to develop investor-ready mining opportunities.
The proposed third phase aims to move beyond conventional professional training towards practical knowledge transfer, industry immersion, and t
he development of a new cadre of Nigerian mining professionals. These professionals would be equipped to contribute directly to exploration, project development, investment promotion, ESG compliance, and downstream value addition.