After several months of suspending mining activities amid concerns of armed banditry in Zamfara State, the Federal Government has disclosed plans to commence mining operations in the state with signals of security stability in the state.
Zamfara, located in North-West Nigeria, is notable for Lead and Gold Mineral resources, which has seen various forms of banditry and security concerns in recent times while prompting the announcement by the Inspector General of Police, Muhammed Adamu, suspending all mining activities since April this year.
Olamilekan Adegbite, minister of mines and steel development, told BusinessDay on the side lines of the just concluded Nigeria-Canada Investment summit, which the Federal Government was in the process of lifting ban on suspended mining activities in the state, since normalcy was gradually returning to the state.
BusinessDay’s findings note that the suspension was as a result of intelligence report that clearly established a strong link between the activities of armed bandits and illicit miners-with both mutually re-enforcing each other.
Speaking further to the investors, the minister pointed out to would-be investors that Nigeria’s mining potential was huge, adding that the country was focusing on seven strategic minerals that would drive its economic diversification plans, which comprises of, “Coal, Iron ore, bitumen, gold, limestone, lead zinc and barite. We are also working on the geological data on these minerals, and bankable data to enable investors come in ready and commence mining activities with ease.”
Speaking with BusinessDay on Federal Government’s plans to re-open the mining activities in Zamfara, Babatunde Alatise, chairman, mining group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), told BusinessDay that the Federal Government must prioritise technology to assist small scale artisanal miners and investors work on available data to drive investment in the sector.
“The Mining Police must be given aerial surveillance training to track each mineral in each location in Zamfara, and indeed wherever artisanal mining is going on in the country.
Mines surveillance team must embrace technology. Drones must be dedicated to each mining sites, which the National Security Adviser Office must be able to track at each point,” he said.
He stated further, “The government must use technology to monitor royalties. The government must also work to de-risk the sector as it did in the agricultural sector to spur growth and development.”
In Nigeria, BusinessDay’s findings reveal, the colonialists up until 1958 relied majorly on Mines and Agriculture to drive the nation’s economy, with coal and tin quoted in international commodities markets.
analysts are worried that Nigeria is currently heavily reliant on proceeds from oil resources, which is highly susceptible to international shocks, as was seen in 2016 when the global oil price went down, whereas there are huge potentials in the mining sector, if it is properly de-risked and made bankable.
Adegbite reassured that the government was paying particular attention to the mining sector, even as he re-assured the investors of conducive investment environment, stating that the Nigerian government placed premium on the mining sector as one of the sectors advancing its diversification programme.
