Nigeria: Nigeria over the last 12 months has witnessed a sharp decline of oil prices which has impacted much on the economy

Experts say that with trillions of naira lying fallow from untapped mineral resources in Nigeria the country has no business with poverty and deprivation. AGBO-PAUL AUGUSTINE (Abuja), KOLA EKE-OGIUGO (Asaba) and DONATUS NADI, (Lafia) statement on the travails of Nigeria's minerals sector, and its imminent position as the next money spinner.

At the same time as Senator Duro Faseyi, representing Ekiti North Senatorial District stood in the hallow chamber of the Nigerian Senate recently, to sound the alarm over the mind-boggling all of money the country is robbed off annually from mining, he at no time minced words in rousing his colleagues to the reality before them.

The loss of N4 trillion yearly was enough to choke, the seated Senators needed approaching alive to spurring national reawakening to the massive loss of the badly desired revenue from the solid minerals sector.

In the motion, sponsored by Senator Faseyi, he said it was "worrisome and unlawful plundering" of the country's solid minerals sector by local and foreign illegal miners.

He claimed that unapproved mining has cost Nigeria over N8 trillion in each two years. He centred his argument on the inability to muster a strong legislation for the solid minerals sector and poor implementation of the existing weak laws.

As to where the Ekiti national senator got his fact remained unclear to LEADERSHIP Weekend but Senator Faseyi maintained that Nigeria's underground wealth is being stolen barefacedly.

If oil had maintained a flying price in the international market, Nigerians like the Ekiti Senator will have no memory of the existence of the mining sector.

Nigeria over the last 12 months has witnessed a sharp decline of oil prices which has impacted much on the economy. With 45 dollars a barrel, Nigerians do not need a prophet to know the hard truth.

The situation has created a at no time foreseen circumstance where the government is failing to meet the expectations of the Nigerian people.

By LEADERSHIP Weekend's findings, over half of Nigeria's 36 states had received bailout funds from the federal government to rescue their states from grinding to a halt as workers were owed several months' salaries.

The situation has negated the cardinal purpose of government and governance to paying salaries and allowances of civil servants and political office holders against the provision of amenities and basic infrastructure.

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) independent audit statement on governance and revenue management of the Nigeria solid minerals sector for 2012 revealed that Nigeria earned a total of 31.449 billion Naira in 2012 as against 26.925Billion Naira in 2011, showing an increase of 17%.

The statement further stated that the contributions to the major macroeconomic areas of the Nigerian economy are a meagre 0.02% of total exports earnings and 0.14% of new employments in the country by the end of 2012. It revealed that out of the 17,000 jobs created by the Solid minerals sector in 2012, 96% were Nigerian hires.

The abysmal performance of the solid mineral sector shows the level of affronts to the Nigerian minerals sector of which N4trillion is annually lost to the activities of artisanal miners.

With attention redirected to the non-oil sector like solid minerals to the rescue of the country, LEADERSHIP Weekend spoke with experts in the sector of how Nigeria can make the much-needed revenue from minerals.

The President, Nigerian Mining and Geoscience Society (NMGS) Prof. Gbenga Okunlola told LEADERSHIP Weekend that the hard fact remained that Nigeria is losing a lot of money to uncontrolled mining.

He maintained that there is no country in the world that wastes it resources like "the way we are doing in Nigeria".

The geologist expressed doubt on the credibility of the source of Senator Faseyi on the all lost yearly but posited that for Nigeria to make the trillion she hoped for, the country must start from ground zero because the mining sector of the country is at crude level.

"Government must start from ground zero because the mining sector is at a crude level. We need to plan and standardised.

"The public institutions that serve as a primary database should be strengthened because the data emanating from these institutions is low for any meaningful development.

"Government has no business in mining, but it has to create the necessary knowledge base for investors to work with," Okunlola said.

To show successive governments' indifference towards the minerals sector according to Prof. Okunlola, the Mines Inspectorate unit of the federal ministry of solid minerals was left with only 6 vehicles to monitor about 2,000 mining sites across the federation.

He lamented that mining sector in the 1950s and 60s were controlled by government inspectorate unit and the country got substantial revenue. "But we neglected it at the same time as we found new wealth in oil and the world has completed us".

He as well frowned at the fact that Nigeria missed the recent mining boom in the world that ended about three years ago at the same time as gold was sold at about 2,000 U.S. Dollars an ounce.

Besides gold, he said tantalite, tin and columbite sold five times of today's price. He reiterated the need for the country to prepare as solid minerals sales is always cyclical.

The geologist disagrees with the Nigerian Senate on the issue of weak laws encouraging poor returns from the mining sector. He insisted that the current mining laws in the country are "world class" and there is nothing to add.

"If you make a good law and you have a weak institution it won't fly," Okunlola argued.

He urged the federal government to make funds available to the relevant institutions in the solid minerals sector and give them a target to achieve.

Prof. Okunlola is, however, optimistic that the federal ministry of solid minerals in no distance time will compete with the petroleum ministry in revenue generation because he believed the resource base is wider.

As well speaking on the way forward, a sedimentologist and senior lecturer at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra National, Prof. Anthony Okoro said Nigeria cannot expect to have gold and other minerals without investment in the sector.

He reminded that so much was invested in the oil sector before export began in the country.

"We don't have an investment in the minerals sector from presently on we want to harness from it," he said.

Prof. Okoro is optimistic that Nigeria can make N4 trillion annually but cautioned against calling the locals in the various mining site as 'illegal miners'.

"It is wrong to call the current miners illegal, rather government should go there and organise them. If you call them illegal miners you will be creating problem" he said.

He further called on the federal government to consider investing in the industry and encourage investors and local miners to mechanise processes away from the present crude method of exploration.

A geologist and business development expert, Igweze Stephen Ifeacho who is based in Abuja told LEADERSHIP Weekend that Nigeria is not attractive to foreign investor due to the problems associated with the Land Tenure system.

He said while artisanal miners continue to mine and sell precious minerals at cheap prices because of the lack of regulation, the biggest challenge the mining sector is facing currently is the rift that often arise between investing companies and their host communities.

"Part of the requirement for mining right is a proof of letter of consent from host communities. But even with Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSRs) in place, 40 % of the people still go against the companies and this has frustrated a lot of investors," Ifeacho revealed.

He cited a case of an investor in Ebonyi National who in spite several CSRs to the host community got frustrated out by some groups because he is perceived as an outsider.

While agreeing with the Senate's recent motion on the need to check the huge losses of revenue as a result of uncontrolled activities in the mining sector, Ifeacho said the presence of the federal ministry of solid minerals is not felt in rural areas where mining activities take place.

He called on the government to enact local content laws to encourage indigenous firms to invest in the minerals sector.

Other experts have alerted that federal, states and local governments are losing about N50 trillion annually from untapped resources that abound in the country's soil with untapped gold alone accounting for about N8 trillion.

In curbing the challenges of uncontrolled mining in the country comes as well a new wave of crisis. Host communities where mining takes place have decried the manner in which miners conduct their business which they complained are detrimental to their living condition.

Traditional Rulers Major Accomplices in Mining Revenue Theft

Engaging the challenges of illegal mining is arguably one of the majority challenging tasks facing the Nasarawa National government. Being blessed with one of the major deposits of solid minerals in the country, the government is from presently on to evolve a coherent action plan for the exploration of these minerals.

For Bakin Ayini in Kokona local government area, it is a bitter taste of the experience in the hands of miners which LEADERSHIP Weekend understands are carried out in connivance with the traditional rulers in those areas where the minerals abound.

Aqua Marine was said to have been discovered in the area by one Mallam Usman Gajere, a local fisherman, in 1985 and since again it has turned out to be a curse for them because it has brought nothing but pain, poverty and death.

.Mr. Odeh Hassan, a local resident told LEADERSHIP WEEKEND that one Alhaji Kalimbo from Keffi local government was said to have been given the Exclusive Prospecting License (EPL) by the again Plateau National government in 1986 and next discovering the precious metal continued to explore it without any mining lease.

Dr. Kayode Fayemi

Hassan, however, said there was an agreement between the traditional ruler in the area and the prospector that a car would be bought for the former in the event of any major discovery, but nothing was accruable to the community apart from water pollution and environmental degradation

In Anguwan Doka community, the story remains the same but the members of the community enjoy some fringe benefits as they are given one-third of whatever is collected at the end of each prospecting season and the proceeds shared part the members of the community.

LEADERSHIP WEEKEND's findings showed that the community cedes their land to any interested prospector who must go into agreement with them on an acceptable sharing formula.

A third party called 'Sponsor' who takes care of the miners' welfare for the period the prospecting would last is the third party.

Narrating how the illegal mining has thrived in Anguwan Toni, the community chief, Alhaji Ahmadu Kundi, said Nasbago Nig. Ltd has been prospecting for Tourmaline since the 1980s and on various occasions, the community has made various sums of money as proceeds ranging from N900,000 to N40 million.

In addition, the traditional ruler noted that the prospecting company has helped in completing the local Primary Health Care Centre and primary school.

The curious twist, however, is the fact that the members of the community have no idea of the market prices of these precious metals and are therefore at the mercy of Nasbago to decide and still buy it from the community since they have no accessibility to the market. It begins and ends with Nasbago.

At the same time as LEADERSHIP Weekend visited Gidan Kwano, in Nasarawa local government the story was additional pathetic due to the preponderance of tantalite, columbite and tin in the area which has attracted numerous prospectors with attendant consequences on land and bio-diversity.

A resident, Mr. Ogapa Oto who spoke to LEADERSHIP Weekend noted that prospecting in commercial quantity started in the area in 1989 by Gyara Nig. Ltd which as well applied for EPL but went ahead to continue mining without securing the Mining Lease from the government.

He said corruption at various levels has perverted the mining industry because community leaders and government officials go into agreement with the illegal miners to short change the communities and government.

Recounting, he said in the event of any turmoil armed policemen were unleashed on the youths who are forcefully made to recant their positions and protests.

Common to all these is the fact that all the mining dealings in the areas visited are illegal, but the various communities find themselves helpless because the traditional rulers in connivance with the elites are always on the same page.

Commenting on the ugly trend, the media aide to Nasarawa National governor, Ahmed Tukur, said harnessing of the tremendous solid minerals potential of the national is one of the critical areas of focus for the national government.

He said only recently, the government had constituted a 9-man committee to look for the way forward in getting potential investors to exploit the abundant resources in the national, decrying policy summersaults as the brain behind the non-harnessing of the mineral deposits in the national.

Ahmed stated further that in order to achieve this goal in the nearest next, the Nasarawa national government has declared free tax regime for intending investors in the solid minerals sector with a view to attracting additional prospectors for the benefit of the economy of the national.

Communities in Delta National have had their share inhuman treatment from illegal miners who, apart from destroying their farmland with impunity, as well experienced environment degradation.

A visit to the communities revealed the scrapping of top soil that is good for farming, destruction of farmland, cutting down of economic trees such as cocoa trees, kolanut trees, citrus trees; the encouragement of gully erosion, and construction of illegal underground mines that is causing an environmental hazard by miners.

Besides these, the communities are exploited because they were ignorant of the economic price of the minerals deposit and by the time they realised its price, much damage had been done.

It was gathered that following the statement of the illegal exploration of mineral resources, the Delta National ministry of commerce swung into action in the communities in Ndokwa and Isoko North and South to verify the claims.

According to an officer of the ministry who chose not to have his name in print, said the national government further instituted surveillance bodies in the form of vigilante to monitor the activities of the uncontrolled miners in the communities and arrest them.

The Delta National Government through the Ministry of Commerce has continued to campaign against illegal mining activities because of the dangers associated with it but with the high level of poverty in the national, the illegal miners because of the fortunes they make from the activities have refused to desist.

Some mining communities in Zamfara, Niger, Kaduna, Osun and Plateau States have had their equitable share of the negative effects of mining in the country.