Folalumi Alaran in Abuja
In a bid to ensure productivity and a total overhaul in the mining sector, the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) has charged the federal government to expedite action as unscrupulous elements and lots of informalities has taken over the sector.
The Director-General, NIPSS, Prof. Ayo Omotayo while speaking in Abuja on Thursday at a press conference on the sideline of the roundtable summit on sustainable development of the mining industry stated that despite government’s efforts to address the problems and challenges of mining, there seems to be a lot more to be done to realise the full potentials of this sector.
Omotayo noted that Nigeria’s inability to take a decisive action on this anomalies has led to “outsiders” coming to explore and extract some of these minerals while illegal and unscrupulous elements capitalise on this to milk the nation dry.
He explained that mining has to be properly organized so that Nigeria can reap the benefits that they bring adding that Nigeria need to strategizes and set a clear pathway in ensuring that mining is well organized and contributes its own fair share to national development.
“As it is now, I don’t have data, but I believe foreigners are benefiting from our resources, our solid mineral resources, even beyond Nigeria.”
“If we fail to get mining to contribute its own fair share, we will keep talking about the $1trillion economy and then we will not get there. So for us, this is just one of the sectors
we are going to critically look at in an open fashion.”
Continuing, Omotayo noted that there should be rules and regulations guiding the activities of the sector especially for licenses approval to curb influx of informalities and unhealthy competition adding that it only
appears that Nigeria is in control of the sector but is not.
“Mining has been taken over by informalities in the sense that too many artisanal miners are here dealing directly with
those who do not share our national aspirations.
“Nigerian artisanal miners have no
business talking to a straight Chinese in the bush outdoors.” He added.
Meanwhile, Omotayo assured that the summit will look at the policy and regulatory frameworks guiding the activities of the mining sector, check its impact on the environment, examine how to leverage modern technologies to enhance the activities of the sector and explore how to build local human capacity to take charge of the sector.
He added that the summit will also look at strategies to secure the mining sites and activities in the country, ensure the attraction of large-scale investment into the sector in other to move it away from being largely artisanal by getting foreign direct investment for the sector; as well as ensuring the buying-in of citizens and communities where mining activities take place.
Earlier, the managing partner, Bruit Costaud, Alhaji Lai Mohamed on his part stated that it is high time to delibrate on issues affecting the growth in the mining sector with many tink-tank questions unanswered hence the need for stakeholders’ presence at the summit.
