Aside from the activities of illegal and informal miners hindering development in the Nigeria Solid Minerals and Steel sectors, it is a huge disadvantage to many host communities, Ruth Tene Natsa, writes on the security issues and the effectiveness of the newly deployed mines marshals by the federal government
The security disruption of mining communities cannot be overemphasised, as we have seen whole communities displaced, hundreds dying, and many losing their sources of livelihood.
This is even as many others lose their farmlands and suffer various forms of environmental degradation as illegal and informal miners degrade their lands to get their hands on the filthy lucre hidden underground.
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States across Nigeria continue to suffer the unmitigated effects of illegal or unregulated mining activities, as seen in Zamfara, Plateau, Niger, Osun, Kogi, Ebonyi, and every other state where mining occurs. These include devastated environments, polluted lands, water sources, loss of revenue to the federal government in the forms of royalties and taxes, and loss of lands for agricultural purposes.
BusinessDay recalls Zamfara, where whole communities were displaced over the operations of violent illegal miners, and the deaths of over 700 children were recorded as reported by Doctors without Borders.
In Niger state, over 50 illegal miners were buried when a mining site collapsed on them; in Ebonyi state, host communities continue to lament harassment and land grabbing by mining companies; and in Osun state, a community’s land has been severely devastated, leading to the loss of thousands of economic trees (cocoa). The many open pits in Jos, Plateau State, due to tin mining, among several others, are all samples of the undeniable illegal or informal mining activities in Nigeria.
While one can’t say the sector is poorly funded, it can be agreed that it is underfunded to tackle the huge security challenges in the sector, particularly in host communities. It is also to be contested that mining host communities, rather than benefiting from the huge resources nature has blessed them with, have become victims of their resources.
The federal government’s efforts to tackle the many issues in the sector are seen in its improved funding to the solid minerals sector over the years, the split of the Ministry into the Ministries of Solid Minerals and Steel Development, respectively, the launch of the Mining Marshals, and many other efforts to tackle the data challenges in the sector.
In addressing the myriad security challenges, BusinessDay recalls that the Federal government through the Ministry of Solid Minerals in March 2024, launched 2,220 mining marshals, whose sole responsibilities were to smoke out illegal miners and ensure the security of mining host communities. An additional 390 marshals were further deployed by the federal government in June 2024 in addition to the initial 2,220, making a total of 2,610.
BusinessDay findings, however, reveal that the total number of mine marshals is insufficient to tackle the security needs of the sector, noting that mining occurs in all 774 local governments in a country with a population of over 200 million, even as host communities debate the job description of the Mining Marshals, arguing they are sent to protect the interests of mining companies rather than protect host communities.
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It is not to be debated that the services to be provided by the mining marshals will not only complement the activities of policing in Nigeria; they will also provide the needed security to host communities and mining companies across the region.
However, some stakeholders are of the view that the sector’s underfunding makes it impossible to provide the security needed to protect mines and host communities.
Abiodun Baiyewu, executive director of Global Rights Nigeria, stressed the need for the federal government to empower the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, noting they were undermanned and underfunded.
Baiyewu recalled that even though the 13 percent mining derivative to states was approved quite a while back, states only began to receive it, adding that even with that, no state governor had been able to give an account of the derivative.
She said, “With the current effort of the ministry talking about the security challenges in host and other mining communities, their efforts would be inconsequential if the ministry lacks the manpower or finance to tackle the many challenges observed in mining host communities. While the ministry sent them out to work, sometimes their duties are diverted due to poverty or lack of funds.”
She recalled that “essential foundations had been laid in the constitution in sections 14, B, and C and Section 17, 2C, which say that the primary essence of government is to ensure the welfare and security of citizens, noting that the rights of citizens that the exploitation of any resource in a community should be for the benefit of the community.”
“The primary purpose of the government is to protect its citizens, maintain order, and enforce the rule of law. This is affirmed by Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which states that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government,” she said.
Also speaking, Habibu Wushishi, Co-Chair, of the Federation of Mining Host Communities, said he had never seen a mines marshal in his community, except in the news, and said even in communities that had the presence of such, the mines marshals were seen to be protecting the interests of the miners/mining companies rather than the communities.
Speaking with Newsmen in Abuja recently, mining communities on the platform of the Federation of Nigerian Mining Host Communities and its Civil Society Partners called on the National Assembly to adopt the inclusion of a 5% derivative for mining host communities, separate from the 13% allocation to the state, to ensure equitable distribution of resources between the federal state and local communities.
Habibu Wushishi, in his remarks, applauded the recent attempts by the National Assembly, particularly the efforts of the House Committee on Solid Minerals to amend the Minerals and Mining Act of 2007, to strengthen the legal and policy frameworks to ensure equitable distribution of benefits from the sector.
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Wushishi, in his recommendations, called for “derivative allocation for mining host communities, community development agreements reflecting environmental and social impact assessments, regulation of artisanal and small-scale mining, separation of regulatory and administrative functions of the ministry of solid minerals development, security and welfare of host communities, the inclusion of civil society organisations in state MIREMCOs, as well as the chairmanship and acknowledgement of state autonomy in MIREMCO.”
In his words, “WWe recommend the inclusion of the provision of a 5 percent derivative for mining host communities, separate from the 13 percent allocation to the state, recognising their integral role in mineral resource extraction and the need for equitable benefit sharing.
“The many open pits in Jos, Plateau State, due to tin mining, among several others, are all samples of the undeniable illegal or informal mining activities in Nigeria.”
He added that community development agreements (CDA) do not presently reflect environmental and social impact assessments or their recommendations, noting that free prior informed consent must also be sought with the full import of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) explained to the community before they agree on the terms.
“We commend the inclusion of specific provisions to regulate the artisanal and small-scale mining sectors. More than 80 percent of solid mineral mining in Nigeria is artisanal. Effective regulation is essential in promoting responsible mining practices and safeguarding the environment and the rights of mining host communities; we therefore recommend the development of an artisanal mining regulation code in this regard,” he added.
Wushishi, on behalf of the Federation of Nigerian Mining Host Communities and its Civil Society partners, commended the efforts of the National Assembly to introduce legal reforms aimed at ensuring equitable governance of the solid minerals sector.
“We insist that the proposed amendments to the Act must better serve the interests of all stakeholders, particularly mining host communities, promote sustainable development in the mining sector, and contribute to the socioeconomic advancement of our nation,” he said.
While acknowledging that the ministry has multiple sources of funding, including the federal government budget allocation, the Solid Minerals Development Fund (World Bank), as well as several funding partners support, such as the Ford Foundation and OSIWA, expert opinion will disagree, insisting that mining is capital intensive and the sector is desirous of more funding.
BUSINESSDAY recalls that Dele Alake, the minister of solid mineral development, disclosed that Nigeria currently possesses a deposit of mineral products worth $750 billion.
The minister at a two-day national stakeholders’ roundtable on sustainable development of the mining industry organised by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies with the theme ‘Sustainable Development of the Mining Industry in Nigeria’ in Abuja stated that the government is working to ensure the country becomes a promising investment destination for solid minerals development and revealed that preliminary reports by a German firm, GeoScan, indicated that the nation is blessed with minerals worth a conservative amount of $750bn.
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Meanwhile, Kehinde Bamigbeta, a special adviser to the minister, in an opinion piece titled ‘A Weekend Balderdash,’ which was a response to an article titled “Tinubu’s Minister submits the N200 billion budget for the project already existing,” lamented Nigeria’s low investment in solid minerals exploration, tagging it an international embarrassment, which this administration is determined to reverse.
Quoting Standard & Poor’s survey on exploration budgets of countries in Africa, he said, “Nigeria spent the least, only 2.5 million dollars on exploration in 2023 compared to Ivory Coast’s $ 147 million. The figures for a few other countries are DR Congo, $ 133 million, South Africa, $ 117 million, Ghana, $ 99.7 million, and Mali. $83 million is instructive.”
Interestingly, stakeholders in the sector are of the view that to get the benefits that will benefit host communities, the government at all levels must invest and be invested in the sector. Given current realities, BUSINESSDAY sought to find out the current contribution of the sector to the economy.
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), in its report tagged REVENUES EARNED FROM OIL, GAS, AND MINING SECTOR 1999 TO 2021, revealed that N193.59 BILLION WAS EARNED FROM THE SOLID MINERAL SECTOR IN 2021 ONLY.
NEITI also recorded that in 2016, the sector recorded N43.22b, 2017 N43.22b, 2018, N67.92b, 2019, N79.96 and 2020 N128, while 2021 recorded N193.59, respectively. The above records show a trajectory of growth, despite the many leakages still allegedly ongoing in the industry.
Meanwhile, BusinessDay findings reveal that the sector had recorded an upward increase in budgetary allocation. Looking back at the Ministry’s budget from 2020 to 2024, 2020: 21,248,167,787; 2021: 12,038,392,758; 2023: 38,935,169,991; and in 2024, the national assembly reduced the budget allocation to the ministry of solid minerals development by 25.09 percent to N21,906,773,234.
With the above statistics, there is no doubt that the sector is still in need of better funding, and the federal government must do better to fully benefit from the benefits of the sector.
