The Federal Government needs to spend over N70 billion to finance solid minerals exploration initiatives nationwide, according to Mr. Dele Alake, Minister of Solid Mineral Development.
This was said by Mr. Alake on Thursday in Abuja during an investigative meeting with the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals, which was presided over by Senator Ekong Sampson. During the hearing, Mr. Alake listed the difficulties facing the ministry.
The Minister claims that Nigeria has one of the lowest budgets in the world for solid mineral exploration, citing the need for Senate approval for higher financing since insecurity is impeding the sector’s progress.
He cited a report from the international rating agency Standard & Poor’s that placed Nigeria’s exploration budget at the 12th rank in Africa, with Ivory Coast leading the way with an investment of $147 million.
He said, “When we compare the exploration expenditures of other African countries to ours, it’s disappointing. According to Standard & Poor, Nigeria’s exploratory investment in 2023 was $2.5 million, compared to Ivory Coast’s $147 million and Congo’s $133 million.”
“In our drive to compete, we suggested a budget of N70 billion for exploration across the whole Nigerian landscape. According to the budget for 2024, our ability to move at the required speed may be jeopardized. We need your support to fund exploration and equip our personnel to regulate the sector.”
Creation of Mining Marshals
The Minister briefed the senators on the recently established 2,220-member Mining Marshals force, which has 60 agents stationed in each state and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), stressing efforts to combat illicit mining.
According to him, there are four basic types of illicit miners: those who operate outside of their cadastral units without a license, those who have a license but extract minerals that aren’t covered by it, and those who use licenses that are only available to Nigerians.
The Minister mentioned that the nation loses more than $9 billion a year to illicit mining operations.
Plans to develop mining processing centers
In keeping with the recently declared value addition program of the Federal Government, Alake revealed intentions to open six further processing facilities spread around the geopolitical zones.
He underlined that enacting suitable legislation, increased money, and strong supervision mechanisms would be necessary in order to assist the Mining Marshals with sufficient resources and carry out other ministry changes.
The goal of the three-day investigation inquiry, according to Senate Committee on Solid Minerals Development Chairman Ekong Sampson, is to identify the several obstacles impeding the mining industry’s growth in spite of the nation’s abundant mineral resources.
