Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Oladele Alake has stated that the decision of the federal government to diversify from hydrocarbons to making the minerals sector a major revenue contributor to Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) is its contribution to climate change.
Dr Alake said this when he received a delegation of the Miners Association of Nigeria, led by its national president, Mr Dele Ayanleke, and comprising representatives of the VUKA group, co-organizer of the forthcoming Nigeria Mining Week, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, foremost accounting firm.
In a statement by the ministry’s head of press and public relations, Mr, Alaba Balogun, Dr Alake commended the Association for its suggestive recommendations and consistent role in organising the Mining Week.
He stated that Nigeria had been operating a mono-cultural oil economy for long but that the diversification into solid minerals was overdue.
He said: “Our vision is to make solid minerals our pride, a major contributor to Nigeria’s gross domestic product. We will diversify from oil, to exploit it for the survival of Nigeria. This is our own contribution to climate change”.
To this end, the Minister emphasised that the Ministry is committed to making requisite policies that will sanitise and rejig the regulatory framework and to make it more conducive for local and foreign investors to play”.
On the issue of incursion by the second tier of government into mining, Dr Alake stressed that the federal government will engage the state government and local government with a view to resolving surrounding issues within the ambit of the law.
Speaking on securing the mining sector environment for maximum yield to the federal government, the Minister revealed that high end technology will be deployed coupled with an inter-agency taskforce to arrest the menace completely. He therefore sought partnership with the Miners Association of Nigeria to strengthen capacity in this regard for the growth and repositioning of the sector.
In his earlier remarks, the national president of Miners Association of Nigeria, Ayanleke, expressed absolute assurance that the seven point agenda unfolded by the minister of Solid Minerals will consolidate and enhance the sector for maximum contribution to national development.
