Proposed ban on mining activities: Differentiate licensed miners from bandits

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The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has called on the Federal Government not to go ahead with its plan to ban mining activities in the country, adding that the government should rather differentiate the activities of licensed mining companies from those of the bandits and terrorists.

The Chamber, while reacting to the proposed government’s ban on mining activities in the country, in a statement issued over the weekend, and signed by its director-general, Dr Chinyere Almona, stated that going ahead with the ban would have unintended consequences on the mining sector and the nation’s economy.

While acknowledging the need to fight terrorism and banditry, as intended with the proposed ban, the business advocacy group however argued that it would be wrong on the part of the Federal Government to label all miners in the country as being the sources of funds for banditry and terrorism in the country.

The Chamber stated that the recent announcement had further validated to foreign and local investors the non-suitability of the nation’s mining sector for their investments.

It also added that while implementing the ban would also put to risk mining projects across the country, being financed by existing local investors, with loan facilities, it would further damage the diversification plans of the federal government to pursue a non-oil exports-based economy.

“Duly licensed mining companies should be clearly differentiated from the activities of bandits and terrorists whom the National Security Council has based their proposal upon.

“We need to enforce all the necessary laws and policies to guarantee security of local and foreign investments in the solid minerals sector as well as ensure that investors get best returns on their investments,” the Chamber added.

The business advocacy group called on the Federal Government to empower the solid minerals and mining sector through the deployment of Geographic Information System (GIS), automation of application and processing of mining licences, leases and permits all through a one-stop-shop platform, adding that the Integrated Automation and Interactive Solid Minerals Portal (IAISMP) should be made to serve as a go-to portal for real time information on the sector.

“We cannot afford to jeopardise the fortunes of mining in Nigeria with a blanket ban on mining activities when we should be able to isolate illegal miners and demobilise criminals from mining sites.

We urge the government to reconsider ways to demobilize criminal activities from mining sites and create a safe environment where mining can thrive,” the Chamber argued.

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The PDP spokesman recalled how the opposition party had on various occasions alerted that the APC government had ceded sovereignty over a large portion of our country to terrorists, “many of whom were imported into our country by the APC.”

He further stated: “From the video, in a brazen manner, terrorists as non-state actors boldly showed their faces, boasting, admitting and confirming their participation in the Kuje Prison break, some of whom were former prison inmates who were either jailed or awaiting trial for their previous terrorism act against our country.

“Nigerians can equally recall the confession by the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai that the APC government knows the plans and whereabouts of the terrorists but failed to act.

According to Ologunagba, about 18,000 Nigerians have been killed by terrorists between 2020 and 2022 “as the criminals continue to be emboldened by the failures and obvious complicity of the APC and to which the PDP had always drawn attention.”

“This is not politics; this is about humanity and leadership, which leadership sadly and unfortunately is missing in our country at this time,” he said.

The PDP added that it is appalled by “the lame response by the apparently helpless, clueless and deflated Buhari Presidency, wherein it told an agonizing nation that President Buhari “has done all and even more than what was expected of him as Commander in Chief by way of morale, material and equipment support to the military…”

“This is a direct admission of incapacity and failure by the Buhari Presidency and the APC. At such a time, in other climes, the President directly leads the charge and takes drastic measures to rescue and protect his citizens.

“In time of adversity, the President transmutes into Consoler-in-Chief to give hope and succour to the citizens. Painfully, Nigeria does not have a President who cares and can stand as Consoler-in-Chief to the citizens.

“It has now become very imperative for Nigerians to take note and realize that the only solution to this unfortunate situation is to hold the APC government accountable. We must come together as a people, irrespective of our political, ethnic and religious affiliations to resist the fascist-leaning tendencies of the APC administration.

Ologunagba called for an urgent meeting of the National Council of State to advise on the way to go over the nation’s worsening insecurity.

“Our nation must not fall. The resilient Nigerian spirit and ‘can-do- attitude’ must be rekindled by all to prevail on the President to immediately and without further delay, accede to the demand by the PDP and other well-meaning Nigerians to convene a special session of the National Council of State to find a lasting solution since the President has, in his own admission, come to his wit’s end,” the PDP spokesman declared.

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