. To establish six mineral centres
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, says the federal government will deploy technology to monitor mining sites nationwide.
Mr Alake, in an interview on Sunday in Abuja, said the technology would be in addition to the 2,220 personnel of the Mining Marshal Corps drawn from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to combat illegal mining.
“We are introducing some technology; we are not just relying on men and materials alone,” said Mr Alake. “The satellite surveillance gadgets we are putting in there enable us to see all mining sites in Nigeria in real-time.”
“That reduces the time of knowledge and action. Right now, we depend on people passing intelligence to us, but when the satellite surveillance gadget is working, we will be able to see it ourselves,” he said.
The minister said that to attract investors to the sector, especially the big players, it was necessary to put in place policies and initiatives aimed at securing their investments.
“We needed to put in place policy measures to ensure that when these investors come, they are not just coming into the darkness that we had here before.
“They will ask some questions about the security of their operating environment, investment, personnel, and the ease of doing business in Nigeria and the sector,” he said.
He said President Bola Tinubu’s administration inherited many security challenges, such as banditry, kidnapping, and terrorism, associated with the solid mineral sector.
Mr Alake said concerted efforts are being deployed to curb the menace with other government agencies, such as the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), the Nigerian Army, and the police, for rapid results.
Mr Alake also said plans are ongoing to establish six mineral centres in the six geo-political zones to boost the sector.
He said the plan was part of the current administration’s commitment to diversify the country’s economy by developing key sectors such as the solid minerals industry.
“Another one is the creation of six mineral centres in each of the six geo-political zones.
“We have our minerals all over the country, and we cannot concentrate the mineral processing centres in one centre, and as we speak, those plans are ongoing in the zones,” he said.
The minister had announced that mining companies would not be granted licences to operate without presenting a comprehensive plan for value addition, such as processing and refining.
Mr Alake said investors in the past extracted raw mineral resources from Nigeria without adding value to them, which he described as a great loss to the country’s economy.
We are going to recover trillions to the coffers of the Nigerian government and for the benefit of Nigerians at large.
GDP contribution
The Minister also said the Ministry is determined to ensure the sector’s contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) surpasses that of oil.
He said President Bola Tinubu’s administration was putting policies and initiatives in place to diversify the economy and ensure that it generates more revenue than oil in the near future.
“Our objective is to make solid minerals’ contribution to the GDP surpass oil,” said Mr Alake, who decried the country’s long dependence on oil and neglect of other critical sectors.
Mr Alake said the move was necessary, especially given the global upsurge in energy transition, which would reduce the demand for oil.
“By the time all our policy initiatives go through the gestation period and begin to manifest results, the revenue accruing to Nigeria from this sector would be enormous.
“We are going to recover trillions to the coffers of the Nigerian government and for the benefit of Nigerians at large,” he said.
He said Nigeria possesses the critical minerals in commercial quantities across its states needed for energy transition, which the ministry was aggressively marketing to attract big players to invest in the sector.
According to him, negotiations with an auditing firm are ongoing to audit the sector, aimed at sanitising it and ensuring the appropriate accruals to boost the country’s GDP.
“We know that operators will under-declare what they are carting away, even the payment of royalties, which they underpay, and taxes they evade.
“So, we are in the process of engaging an internationally recognised auditing firm that has done the same thing in other parts of the world in more than 20 countries.
“We are going to recover trillions to the coffers of the Nigerian government and for the benefit of Nigerians at large,” he said.
The Minister said a German company, Geo Scan, conducted a preliminary survey indicating that Nigeria has $750 billion worth of underground solid minerals that have yet to be harnessed.
Sanitising the sector
Mr. Alake further informed that plans are underway to increase the Mining Marshal Corps in all states and FCT from 60 to 100 each.
He said the move was part of the federal government’s efforts to secure the mining operating environment to attract foreign direct investments and boost the country’s economic profile.
The Mining Marshal Corps, inaugurated on March 21, was drawn from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to combat illegal mining.
The corps has 2,220 personnel, specially trained by the military in modern warfare as a rapid response squad with 60 deployed across the 36 states and the FCT.
“We are looking at adding to the number to get a minimum of 100 in each state from the 60 on the ground,” he said.
He said Mr. Tinubu’s administration was determined to sanitise and reposition the mining sector by implementing policy measures to attract big players.
Mr Alake said that prospective investors would need assurance of the security of the operating environment, their investment, equipment and personnel.
The minister said the insecurity situation at mining sites across the federation prompted the president to establish an inter-ministerial committee on January 17.
He explained that the committee was to produce a blueprint for securing Nigeria`s natural resources, which include mineral sites, the marine economy, and forests.
The minister said that while the committee was still deliberating on producing a comprehensive security architecture for natural resources, the Mining Marshal Corps had been established in the interim.
He said that the initiative was yielding the desired results, as more than 200 suspects had been arrested, 133 prosecuted, and two foreigners convicted for illegal operations.
According to him, states are requesting the deployment of marshals in areas identified as sites of illegal mining due to their success. (NAN)
