The minister of solid minerals development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said the submitted mining and metals roadmap will serve as a major milestone for the sector after the Ministerial Committee on Roadmap for the Development of the Solid Minerals Sector presented the document.
Fayemi who was elated by the prompt submission of the roadmap by the 14 man committee co-chaired by Professors Ibrahim Garba and Siyan Malomo, at the Ministry’s conference room in Abuja expressed optimism that the roadmap will fast-track growth and development of the sector.
According to him the roadmap will be made available to the public after the review process has been concluded.
He said: “Today marks a significant milestone in the sector development of the Nigerian minerals and metals sector, with the submission of the Mining and Metals roadmap by the Roadmap Committee which we set up about four weeks ago.
“The mining sector is a key area of focus of the current administration, and it excites me that we are already charting the path for sustainable growth in the sector, with the involvement of representatives from the spectrum of stakeholders within the sector.
“You will recall that the Roadmap Committee under the chairmanship of Professors Ibrahim Garba and Siyan Malomo, and 14 other eminent Nigerians was inaugurated on March 1, 2016 to formulate a course that will stimulate the rapid growth of the sector. I am impressed with the quick turn around by the committee in concluding this assignment.
“I am aware that the committee has consulted far and wide, and has received support from other stakeholders not within the committee. This is quite encouraging. It is obvious that we are ready as a nation to embark on this journey of sustainable development for the Nigerian mining and metals sector.”
He also disclosed that the roadmap for the sector will be reviewed and subjected to other stakeholders’ reviews, so that it would be an airtight document that can withstand the test of time. According to the Minister the roadmap committees’ assignment continues and will see through the process as they take into consideration of views from other stakeholders in the sector.
However, the one of the co-chairmen of the roadmap committee and Vice Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Prof. Ibrahim Garba, said the roadmap will be a guided mechanism for ensuring timely sustainable means of developing the mining sector and possible legislation might come out of it.
“We are starting from a point whereby the mining sector of Nigeria even though it had a very glorious history in the past over 70 years ago, and at the present time it doesn’t contribute any significant income or wellbeing to Nigerians, we feel that we should bring issues and initiatives to translate this huge potential we have into economic wellbeing for the country.
“For the sector to grow it is sensitive to a number of threats around it because the sector requires investment and investors will want to have a comfortable environment to operate, and if there are issues that makes the investor uncomfortable they will not likely put in their money to invest that will grow and develop the sector.
“The security of the investment is a big threat because they will like to see the laws that promised to do this or that and not turned over time. Another threat coming is the level of control of resources state governments want as imbedded in the land use Act that empowers them to have power over all the land in the State, but also stated that the minerals under the land are to be controlled by the federal government, and this may scare investors away if there is no collaboration between the state and federal governments”, Garba stated.
