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Patronise the ‘MINT’, Masari, MD/CEO plead
Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State and the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Security, Printing and Minting Plc, Alhaji Abbas Umar Masanawa have made a case for the organisation, calling on governments, national institutions and private organisations to patronise the services of the nation’s premier printing and minting company, popularly referred to as The MINT.
In a statement Signed by Abdu Labaran Malumfashi,DG Media, Katsina State Governor and made available to journalist.
The duo made the plea yesterday when Governor Masari visited the Abuja Headquarters and inspected the facilities of the company, accompanied by the MD/CEO and other key management staff.
Impressed by the what he described as the “state-of-the-art equipment” at the factory, the Katsina State Governor said governments and institutions in Nigeria had no business patronising foreign nations for their minting and printing needs for currency and security documents.
The Governor expressed confidence that with what is on ground by way of equipment and personnel, it was inconceivable that a better company could be found, even in foreign lands, that could do a better and cheaper job than the Nigerian MINT.
“Given the equipment that the MINT has installed, I am absolutely confident that there is no job in its purview which this company would not do satisfactorily, I am certain about that”
He also noted that it was in the economic and security interests of the Nigerian government to compel its institutions and agencies to patronise the MINT at all times for their printing needs.
Speaking in similar vain, the MINT’s boss said there was need for the government to compel “national institutions whose functions impact on national security and economy to domesticate their printing jobs in Nigerian Security Printing and Minting”.
He said it was particularly of utmost importance for the government to realise the need for passport production to be domesticated in the MINT.
According to him, doing so will yield multiple benefits for the nation, such as boosting national security and integrity, engendering national pride and patriotism, improving national revenue generation, creating job opportunities, conservation of FOREX and boosting acquisition/transfer of technology, among others.
Alhaji Masanawa declared that there was no minting and or printing work that the MINT would not be able to undertake credibly, adding that the board of the company has seen to it that there are state-of-the-art equipment and highly trained and experienced staff that are second to none in Africa.
