Nigeria and Murdoch University in Western Australia have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening knowledge transfer and professional capacity in the country’s solid minerals sector.
The commitment followed strategic discussions between the university’s management and a Nigerian delegation attending the Africa Down Under conference in Australia.
The delegation was led by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, who was represented at the meeting by the Director-General of the Mining Cadastre Office, Obadiah Nkom.
According to a statement issued by Alake’s Special Assistant on Media, Lara Owoeye-Wise, the Nigerian delegation met with the university’s management, led by the Dean of the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Prof. Dee O’Connor.
The discussions focused on the next phase of the Nigeria–Australia Resource Industry Collaboration and Capacity Building Programme.
Owoeye-Wise said the engagement sought to consolidate the achievements of the programme’s first two cohorts while developing an expanded third phase with greater industry exposure.
The programme, a partnership between the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development and Murdoch University, has trained two cohorts of 11 Nigerian officials each since its launch in June 2025.
It combines technical, policy and leadership training with field visits, industry engagements, job shadowing, workshops and exposure to Australia’s mining and resources governance system.
The proposed third phase is expected to provide longer practical engagements and focus on equipping Nigerian mining professionals with the skills to identify, develop and present commercially viable mining opportunities.
Owoeye-Wise said the partnership aligned with the ministry’s broader objective of building a knowledge-driven mining sector capable of attracting investment, promoting responsible resource development, strengthening local expertise and increasing value addition.
She said sustained collaboration with Australian universities, regulators, industry players and research institutions would help translate international expertise into lasting capacity in Nigeria.
Alake said knowledge transfer remained central to the Federal Government’s mining reform agenda, stressing that sustainable transformation of the sector required Nigerians to acquire and apply global best practices.
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He said the government’s goal was not merely to attract capital and technology but also to ensure that Nigerians developed the expertise required to deploy, manage and advance such capabilities.
The minister described the partnership with Murdoch University as a critical investment in the professionals expected to drive the next generation of Nigeria’s mining industry.
According to him, the proposed third cohort would build on the experiences of the first two by introducing stronger industry immersion, internships and job-shadowing opportunities, alongside live industry case studies and training in developing investor-ready mining opportunities.
Alake said the programme would move beyond conventional professional training towards practical knowledge transfer and industry immersion, producing a new generation of Nigerian mining professionals equipped to contribute to exploration, project development, investment promotion, environmental, social and governance compliance, and downstream value addition.
