The Closure of Mining Activities through the Taraba State Government Suffered setbacks, Reduced the State Revenue Drastically.

By Audu Solomon Maiyaki

Following the band on Mining activities sometime last year by His Excellency Dr. Abgu Kefas the executive Governor of Taraba State, the mining sector suffers a setback in the State to carry out their activities. The chairman Miners Association of Nigeria,
Taraba State chapter, Alhaji Bashir Muhammed lamented what could have warranted the delay for so long through the state government.

The miners obtained their licenses through the federal government to carry out their legitimate activities within the state.
He stresses that some of these licenses are wasted because they have a time frame or duration of expiring date from the Federal Ministry of Solid-Menials Development.

The question that is begging for an answer now from the association is that, since the Taraba state government suspended all mining activities in the state to date, who bears the loss for close to a year now? Is it the state government or the federal government?
It is only the Federal Ministry of Solid-Menial Development that formulates policy and provides information on mining potentials in the sector and production to create revenue for economic growth for the government. The state government in its part is to secure and protect the state from ecological disaster, where all miners comply with the rules of the state on how to go about their activities and prompt collection of the state revenue to boost the GDP of the state.

Also, we are aware of the drastic measures taken by both the federal government and the Taraba state government, the awareness of illegal mining that sabotages the economic growth of the government activities with the state, a task force committee was constituted, headed by a retired Brig-Gen Jeremiah Aliyu Faransa now the Chairman Taraba State Board of Internal Revenue. Before he was relieved from the task force committee, He had done a lot to chastise illegal miners within the state to create room for investors who have obtained their licenses from the federal government and other foreign investors.

Our appeal to the Taraba state government is for those who obtained a license from the federal government should be allowed to mine in their various site of operation before their license elapses, mining is capital intensive, and most miners have invested so much before the embargo placed by the state government, which crippled their resource tied down for a very long time.

Recently, A group delegation of foreigners from Finland arrived in Jalingo the state capital, they were received by the state government to come to examine the God-given state’s potential, we appreciate their coming, but what will be the faith of those miners who obtained licenses directly from the federal government? Or what are the modalities of doing mining business in Taraba state, we believe that being the first-class citizen of the state, our interest should come first before any other citizen.
We call on the state government to lift the embargo placed on mining activities, to enable eligible miners to go back to their various sites.