When good work dey happen, make we acknowledge am abeg. That’s exactly what I am doing this morning. There are moments when patriotism simply means telling the truth and this is one of such moments.
Long read alert. I’Il make this very easy for you to understand.
For a long time, the story around Nigeria’s solid minerals sector was that of wasted potential. You reading this, did you hear about the sector before now? Be honest.
The sector sat on enormous mineral wealth, yet exported opportunities, imported finished products, and watched illegal miners profit while communities remained poor. No foreign countries wanted to do legitimate business in solid minerals with Nigeria: deals that would have benefited the economy never happened.
Today, something different is happening. Deliberately. Quietly. Consistently. Let me break it down for you. Shall I?
I have watched the sector evolve under the leadership of Mr. Dele Alake the journalist-turned-administrator and I genuinely believe history will be kind to him and the steps he’s taken to bring Nigeria’s solid minerals sector to limelight.
When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu sent him to the sector, he knew what he was doing. If we weren’t sure then, now we are.
The first thing Alake did upon assuming the position was to tackle security first. He figured that there would be no meaningful progress without a security outfit wholly dedicated to the sector. So the mining marshals were formed. These guys have one mandate; secure our mining sites, arrest illegal miners and let the law do its job.
While that was going on, Alake reached out to these illegal miners and offered them a beautiful option: “Because mining is all you’ve known to do all your life, form yourselves into small scale artisanal mining groups. We will register you and give you the funds and support to now mine legally.”
Many took that option but a few chose not to. They are the ones the mining marshals are after.
As at this moment, the marshals have arrested and secured convictions for many offenders, some of whom are foreigners. Yes you heard me. Foreigners have been arrested and persecuted in Nigeria. That has never happened in the sector before now.
After providing security, Alake freed up space for setups investors to come in. What did he do? He saw that many Nigerians had mining licenses they sat on without going to site. They bought several mining cadasters and were waiting for a hike in price to resell. Many of them refused to renew their licenses. These guys tied down our assets. Alake gave them time to do the needful. At the deadline, he revoked their licenses and cleaned up the house!
Then what did he do next? He figured that if the space has now been freed up and he wishes to market the sector to serious international investors, then they will need accurate data. Prior to this time, our data on mining was outdated or incomplete. That made it difficult to attract serious mining investment.
Alake introduced modern geological mapping, advanced surveys, and improved mineral data. Nigeria is building a more reliable picture of its mineral wealth as we speak and investors can now access what we have from the comfort of their rooms anywhere in the world.
His focus is not about just digging minerals out of the ground. It is on beneficiation. Value addition. Industrialisation. Alake came in with the saying: “The era of digging out minerals from the pit to the port is over.”
What this means is that whatever any mining company digs here must be processed here and Nigerians must be employed.
Presently, friends, there is no mining company that will be given a licence to mine in Nigeria without first going to their host community and signing a Community Development Agreement (CDA). What this means is that the company presents its plan (short and long term) of what the community will benefit from their presence. It also involves the investors’ plans to clean up after their operations. This is more than corporate social responsibility. It is this agreement between the community and the company that will qualify such companies to be licenced.
Sanity has returned to the mining sector and Nigerians are the better for it. Instead of exporting raw lithium, Nigeria is beginning to process it here. Instead of merely issuing licences, the government is insisting that investors build factories, create jobs, transfer technology, and add value within our borders.
And they are responding. Across the country, processing plants are emerging. Billions of dollars in foreign direct investment are flowing into the sector. Young Nigerians are finding employment. Host communities are becoming partners through Community Development Agreements rather than spectators to the wealth beneath their soil.
I was at Endo, Nasarawa State last week for the commissioning of West Africa’s largest lithium factory. It’s on our soil. I saw Nigerians gainfully employed. I saw a jubilant community. And when we sang Nigeria’s national anthem, it made a whole new meaning.
Even the numbers are beginning to tell the story in Nigeria. The sector’s contribution to our economy is rising. Investor confidence is growing. Nigeria is steadily positioning solid minerals as the next frontier of national prosperity beyond oil.
Other African countries are copying our model. They have, like Nigeria, woken up to the huge potential in the sector. Their minsters have formed a group called the African Mineral Strategy Group (AMSG). And they have made Alake their chairman. I call it the African renaissance. Africa has woken up!
The days when illegal mining flourished unchecked in Africa are gradually giving way to a more structured industry, backed by strong legislation.
No reform is perfect. There is still much to do. But if we are quick to amplify failure, we should be just as willing to acknowledge success. Abi?
Progress is progress. I have no difficulty saying it when I see it and I’mma say more.
For the first time in a very long while, Nigeria’s solid minerals sector is no longer defined by what it could become. It is beginning to show us what it can become. And that, to me, is worth celebrating.
May we continue to build a nation where our natural resources create prosperity for Nigerians, not just headlines.
My name is Lara Owoeye-Wise and I am a journalist. Email: [email protected].
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