The quest to for effective regulation and sustainable development of the Nigerian solid mineral sector received a boost on Tuesday, as an Official of the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development tasked relevant institutional stakeholders to diligently carry out their constitutional roles, stating that various regulatory activities are required to ensure holistic governance of the sector.
Director, Department of Artisanal and Small Scale Mining (ASM) in the Ministry, Mr. Yunusa Mohammed who made the call at a special panel dialogue organized by Global Rights, in Abuja, titled “Protecting Host Community Rights: Knowing the Regulators, What They Do, and How Host Communities Can Access Them When Their Rights Are Violated,” said various stakeholders must execute their responsibilities in order to achieve set goals for the sector.
Mohammed, who spoke through his Technical Assistant, Mr. Anenen Nnamdi, stated: “We all have to work together to get the sector working, and to get Nigeria to work,” adding that the various roles are a chain of interconnected responsibilities that must be executed.
Rhetorically, he asked: “Supposing that an illegal miner lifts gold ore with a helicopter, to what extent can the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development address that anomaly without the aviation authorities and the Nigerian Customs Service or Police?”
According to the Director, “There are other authorities and agencies of government that are responsible besides the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, stating that the ministry, its agencies and all sister agencies of government must act swiftly to ensure that mineral theft and capital fight are brought to an end.
Discussing the importance of sustaining regulatory effort along the value chain, he said: “The Aviation authorities must deploy their arsenals and stop the use of helicopters and air transportation to move stolen mineral resources.”
“In order to address various challenges, Nigeria has the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), and the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) among others.”
He stressed the need for the establishments to work together for improved governance of the sector. They must work together in a collaborative way that will leave no stone unturned in the quest to ensure that local and foreign operators work in line with set rules.
The Director pointed out that sanitizing the extractive industry is not the exclusive responsibility of the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, while he acknowledged that the Ministry has a pivotal role to play and will continue to play its role.
“It is the collective responsibility of all of us, and we must all work together to develop the sector,” he said.
“If you want to export, you come to us and we will give you permit to export minerals. The permit will contain information on the origin and value of the mineral. It will also clearly state the destination where you are exporting it to, and information on who is expected to buy the mineral.”
Discussing other information that will be contained in the permit, the Director said: “The port of export will also be declare in the permit: If it is the sea port in Onne or Badagry, we will clearly state it in the permit,” adding that when this permit is issued to an investor, the ministry would inform the Nigerian Export Promotion Council as part of due diligence.
According to the Director, when the licensee approaches the Customs, he would gladly discover that relevant information about his business and plans have been transmitted to the authorities. “We would have given the NCS and the EFCC copies of your permit, and we hope and expect that customs and immigration authorities will do their job.”
“So the quest to sanitize the sector involves diligent checks across various public sector institutional stakeholders even though CSOs and the media also have vital roles to play,” he added.
The Director thanked Global Rights for organizing the training of journalists; a program he said educates the journalists and improves their skills on reporting the sector.
The training sessions aimed at enhancing reporting on mining and host community rights in Nigeria. It is expected that this session will further enhance the knowledge and commitment of journalists to ethical journalism and human rights advocacy.
The interactive sessions offered practical insights on navigating the complexities of the mining sector, particularly focusing on the role of regulators and how host communities can seek redress when their rights are infringed upon.
