Dr. Dele Alake, Minister of Solid Minerals Development, has stated that the Tinubu-led government is diligently correcting the missteps of previous administrations in the solid minerals sector.
Alake shared this update through an official statement signed by Alaba Balogun, Deputy Director of Information at the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, and made available to newsmen on Sunday.
As stated in the announcement, the Minister shared this viewpoint in an interview with CNBC, elucidating the objective of the proposed solid minerals corporation to attract investments from both local and foreign sources, essential for the rapid development of the solid minerals sector.
Furthermore, Alake made it clear that his recent advocacy visit and participation in the Perth Conference held in Australia had a central objective: to position Nigeria as a prime mining destination in both the African and global contexts.
During these engagements, he advocated for the Nigerian government’s strategic efforts and plans to entice local and international investors to the sector, including the establishment of various critical elements.
Furthermore, he stated that the Nigerian Mining Corporation, functioning as a distinct entity with a specific purpose, will participate in joint ventures alongside multinational corporations.
This initiative will enable the government to efficiently exploit mineral resources, departing from the existing situation where it’s an open competition, often to the government’s detriment.
Read also: Under Me, Solid Minerals Will Contribute 50% To GDP — Alake
He shared his positive outlook that the forthcoming corporation would enhance the sector’s integrity in accordance with worldwide benchmarks
He said: ‘SPV like the Nigerian Mining Corporation( NMC) will go a long way to entirely regulate and sanitize the sector, and act as a government face with multinationals engage in a joint venture arrangements: so that Nigerians will have a stake in all of the ventures that go in that sector. That is the role the corporation is going to play, and it is going to be seriously sanitized with efficient governance structures.’
‘So that all past mistakes would be corrected. As we advance with the Nigerian Mining Corporation, it would be like in other developed societies where you have SPVs interfacing on behalf of the government. That is what this NMC is going to do.’
Meanwhile, he (Alake) gave his word to investors that, under the Tinubu-led administration, there would be a concerted effort to encourage public-private partnerships for financing critical infrastructure and maintaining a focus on capacity building.
In addition, he stated that a key part of the roadmap involves the production of substantial geophysical data that will be globally marketed.
‘We have planned many regulatory reforms, security, artisanal miners structure and then, of course, the role data plays in solid minerals.’
‘We intend to go into this very comprehensively to generate enough geophysical data and all other data that would be marketed to the investing global market to attract this critical investment into Nigeria and shore up that sector and make it contribute significantly to the GDP’, he added.
He explained that the 30-day ultimatum given to illegal miners was designed to prompt them to join cooperatives and undergo formalisation to continue their trade.
He made note of the fact that this action would facilitate improved sector regulation, in tandem with the planned activation of an inter-agency security force that would begin operations to sanitise the industry after the 30-day ultimatum elapses.