The federal government through the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi has appealed to Nigerians to be patient with government as ‘mining calendar’ do not align with the ‘electoral calendar’.
He said this is because mining is not a 4year agenda, as exploration might sometime last for 10 years in some cases before getting solid result that could go into production.
This is even as he reiterated the government’s determination to turn around the mining sector by building a world class ecology of mineral and mining in the country.
Speaking during the Sensitisation/Consultation with Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG)/Industry Stakeholders in the Mining Sector which took place at the Lagos Court of Arbitration International Centre, Lagos, Fayemi said “This government is serious about taking mining out of the dungeon and listening to players and drivers of the industry and we are working with key enablers, particularly enabling ministries to ensure that this done” he said.
According to him“ The country is focusing more on rebuilding Nigeria mining and mineral sector which has been comatose for quite a long time”
Addressing the issue of continuity of policies in the sector, he said, “Continuity is important to us, the mining law that we are operating now is 2007 law and we are still working with that because the sector needs predictability, it needs certainty so we are not changing law but enforcing the law”
The Minister stressed the need to improve the partnership among the federal government, state and the host communities, stating that efforts are already being made to ensure that States get their own dues on whatever is derived from the mining sector and that the government is also working on the most effective way to ensure that those in the industry derive maximum benefits and government does not loose revenue as well.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Chairman, Mining Implementation Strategy Team (MIST), Prof Gbenga Okunlola said the meeting was part of the continuous consultation the ministry is doing to evolve new strategies for the implementation of the Roadmap. This, he believed would among other things integrate the ministry with the manufacturer, the off-takers and the processors.
Prof Okunlola stressed the importance of value addition and utilisation, he said what the country intend to achieve is with the Roadmap is wealth creation and employment generation. “The need to have many more people not only doing the mining but also having more industries using the mining products that are available locally which enables the country to generate wealth and provide employment” He explained.
In his paper titled, “An overview of the Roadmap and Industrialisation Prospects” Director Planning Research and Statistics (PRS), Mr. Olapade Davies expressed the belief that Nigeria’s large deposits of mineral resources could be the driver for a diversified economy and that right policies and industrial strategy could be a catalyst for a commodity based industrialisation.
