MINING activities in Nigeria are to witness a boost through value addition and greater level of involvement by the State Governments, the Minister of Mines and steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi has disclosed.
He made this known at Kaduna State Government House during his visit to the acting Governor, Architect Barnabas Bala-Bantex.
Dr. Fayemi said that it was not enough to stay back in Abuja and just receive reports and requests concerning mineral endowments of various states and communities, but that it was necessary to see what were on ground and interact with stakeholders to see what kinds of opportunities and interventions they could benefit from and add value to the resources within their domain.
The minister, who enjoined the state government, based on the partnership it enjoyed with the ministry, to take more advantage of the provisions of the Roadmap and get more value from its mineral resources, commiserated with the government and people of the state on the recent disturbances in Southern Kaduna.
The minister, while commenting on illegal mining, said it was a source of concern for the government, adding that steps were being taken to address the challenges.
According to a press release issued and signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Olayinka Oyebode, a copy of which was made available to the Tribune Online, the minister said the government had been active in pulling together the artisanal and informal miners to reduce illegal mining.
According to him, “we are also working with states in providing the technical and financial support so that they can enter the main stream of mining rather than operating illegally. But the duty we owe to our people is to also enlighten them on the need to engage in formal and organised mining practice.
“If you do this in a formal and organised manner, you will make more money; you will not be cheated by middlemen who took advantage of the unorganized system. These middlemen have often encouraged these illegal miners to escalate dangerous minerals that could be injurious to their health,’’ he said.
“We have a duty to teach them safer mining process and to ensure that they have the tools to be able to conduct legitimate trade. The ministry is prepared to partner with states to include these miners in the scheme of things by formally issuing them small scale license for such operations.
“It is not everybody that can be a major or mega miner, but for those who are small artisanal miners, they can pull their resources together to achieve the economics of scale in this regard”, he explained.
Responding, the acting governor, Architect Bala-Bantex appreciated the minister for choosing Kaduna State to begin the interaction tour and remarked that Kaduna was the first state to key into the Roadmap.
He added that the state had commenced the process of formalizing the activities of illegal miners in a manner that would bring benefits to all parties.
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