These foreign illegal miners

IN recent times, there has been an upsurge in illegal mining activities in Nigeria. Exploiting loopholes in the solid minerals sector, the illegal miners have been robbing Nigeria blind and laughing all the way to the bank. Particularly in recent times, there has been active and increasing connivance between Nigerian illegal miners and their foreign collaborators. This was aptly demonstrated in Kaniyan, a village located in the Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger State, where the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) recently arrested nine people on allegations of engaging in illegal mining activities. The suspects included five Chinese nationals: Wu Ping, Xu Xianliang, Xu Aimin, Xiu Cihuo, and Liu Changhua. The four Nigerians involved are Ibrahim Abdullahi, Sunday Oladele, Destiny John, and Bulus Samuel. The items found in the suspects’ possession included various sizes of industrial crushing machines, power generators of different brands, a gold melting machine, dumper trucks, pay loaders, water pumping machines, a Lexus 470 SUV, and a Tacoma truck. Also recovered from the illegal miners were diesel storage tanks, gas cylinders, drilling and welding machines, explosives, blasting caps, bottles of chemicals, mining helmets, detection devices, a laptop computer, and weighing scales. EFCC’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, said that the suspects would soon be charged to court.

The involvement of foreigners in illegal mining activities in Nigeria is disturbing. Of great concern is the fact that these foreigners and their accomplices are often armed with sophisticated weapons during these illegal activities. The implication is that these foreigners smuggle arms and ammunition into the country. It is also alleged that in perpetrating their criminal acts, these foreigners are enabled by certain local collaborators in high places. Not only do these top persons aid them, they ensure that most times, they escape the prying eyes of law enforcement agencies. The illegally mined minerals are then said to be ferried out of the country for sale in international markets. In Osun State and many other parts of the country, illegal mining activities have become the order of the day, with these illegal miners colluding with locals to carry out their nefarious trade, damaging the Nigerian environment and hobbling the country’s economic prospects. They also frequently put the lives of questioning and dissenting locals in peril, brooking no dissidence and conveying the impression that they can kill anyone without any consequences whatsoever. Worst still, they are also allegedly aided by certain traditional rulers and corrupt policemen.

ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE: Nigeria’s inflation rate eases to 22.22% — NBS

The paradox could not be starker: while these foreigners plunder the Nigerian landscape, the natives, the natural hosts and owners of those precious gifts of nature called gems, are plagued by hunger and want. Right inside their lands lie life-changing endowments, but it is foreign criminals that profit from them. This is completely unacceptable. Apparently, at the heart of this thriving illegality lies the failure of government. It is distressing that while the government makes a show of going after Nigerians engaged in illegal oil bunkering in the Niger Delta, it has historically done very little to stop the foreign theft of Nigeria’s mineral resources, the despoliation of the Nigerian environment and the continued pauperisation and oppression of the Nigerian populace. Is this because of the colour of the skin of the foreign destroyers? For how long will these spoilers continue to strip Nigeria bare as it were, conducting their affairs as if there is no government in place?

It is saddening that a huge chunk of the revenue that should go into the government’s purse and be dedicated to the betterment of the lives of Nigerians ends up in the hands of private individuals. In countries like China, people caught committing economic sabotage are given the death sentence, yet Chinese nationals and nationals from other countries continue to loot Nigeria’s mineral resources with impunity. Pray, how can a state that has considerable quantities of gold be teeming with economically disadvantaged people? How can a land be so blessed, yet so poor and impoverished? How do you have so much resources, yet struggle with so much poverty? Is it that the government is merely a harbinger of pain? If foreign criminals grabbed weapons and went to the civilised countries to loot resources, would they return home alive? Why is stopping the looting of Nigeria’s mineral resources and the haemorrhaging of the Nigerian economy not a national security imperative?

The Nigerian situation seems to be a clone of the infamous situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where foreigners collude with certain individuals to illegally mine the people’s resources. This has resulted in citizens suffering in the midst of plenty. Nigeria’s resources cannot continue to be looted by foreign cabals desperately intent on exploiting the weaknesses of law enforcement. Nigerians should not continue to suffer deprivation and hunger amidst plentiful resources. We hereby call on the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development to ensure that all mining activities are strictly controlled by the government. The leakages are too humongous. It is only in a country that has no government or whose government is effeminate that such phenomenal heists can be allowed to go on without let.

Last year, the House of Representatives’ Committee on Solid Minerals disclosed that illegal mining activities in Nigeria was costing the country about $9bn annually. Terrible! With $9 billion annually, Nigeria could do a lot of things. It could choose to build vast stretches of modern highways, fund the construction of new railway lines, or support the development of new power plants, transmission lines, and distribution networks. If the government were to devote the sum to schools, then you are looking at the construction of thousands of new schools, improving access to quality education and enhancing Nigeria’s human capital. In the health sector, it could support the construction of new hospitals, clinics, and healthcare centers. It could also support the modernization and expansion of Nigeria’s ports, enhancing trade efficiency and competitiveness. Yet illegal miners continue to raid, pillage and rape communities in states like Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger, and Osun perpetually. When is enough going to be enough?

Apart from fleecing Nigerians of their natural endowments, these foreigners, because they operate at night, leave the mining sites as deathtraps. In the same vein, they destroy Nigeria’s ecosystem. The government must stop this economic hemorrhage forthwith and make examples of these saboteurs and their accomplices. Thieves must stop exploiting what rightfully belongs to Nigerians. According to experts, implementing blockchain technology can create an immutable record of mineral extraction, transportation and sales. They also recommend such tools as satellite imaging and remote sensing  technologies, drone surveillance and digital licensing systems, among others. Governance is problem-solving. It is time the government buckled down and rescued Nigeria.