Mineral

Abuja, Dec. 19, 2023: A Business mogul and humanitarian, Abdulsalam Abdulkarim-Zaura, popularly known as AA Zaura, has said that  Nigeria’s solid mineral sector is a robust   alternative to   crude oil for its Economic growth and development.

He stated on Tuesday in Abuja that as Nigeria grapples with economic challenges and  seeks to diversify its revenue mainstay , its rich  solid minerals sector is a veritable alternative, if well harnessed.

The Kano State-born politician said that if  the Federal Government  was serious in saving Nigeria from its present economic woes, the solid mineral was a  goldmine should be explored.

”The only problem we have in Nigeria is that, we fail or we refuse to understand that we have a lot of resources and not only oil.

“Since oil has been our main source of income, we tend not to focus  the government tends not to give attention to these solid mineral resources.

“We are solely dependent on oil, but there are lots of resources can equally boost our economy, and the solid minerals sector is the new oil that can  generate huge revenue for the country.

“For instance, if you take gold, how much is a gramme of gold? You can ever compare a gramme of gold to a barrel of oil.

“The gold is definitely higher, which means if we can shift our focus to mineral to resources just as we do with oil, the country will be better for it

“Adequate attention needs to we need to be focused on   mineral deposits  in Zamfara, Niger  and other states where we have a large deposit of gold, that  means  more income will be generated, “ he said.

Zaura however urged that insecurity, especially most places where these solid minerals are located,  has to be tackled for the  if the nation wants to benefit for the sector.

He added that the Federal Government must also demonstrate strong political will to address the menace of illegal mining which has hitherto  stopped the sector from contributing meaningfully to the nation’s revenue.

According to him, a secured and enabling environment will attract investors attract investors into the sector, especially to communities were such resources abound.

“These are areas that are full of potentials, let me tell you, in those days, you can go in there and mine, even if you are alone, nobody will attack you.

“If government is to derive revenue from those resources, it has to take security seriously in order to protect the people and their investments, and to attract more investors to come into mining, ” he said.

He however lauded the Tinubu-Led  Federal Government for showing commitment towards  revamping the  sector in line with its campaign promises.

“I can see that the current administration of President Bola Tinubu is giving more attention to the area of mineral resources and needed support is now been given to the Ministry of Solid Minerals.

“I think something positive to the sector, and  If government will focus more on it, I can tell you that the opportunities and revenue it will bring will  be amazing,” he said.

Abuja, Nov. 10, 2023: The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) said out of a total mineral revenue of N6.40 trillion, the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) accounted for the highest contribution of N2.71 trillion in 2020-2021.

NEITI, in its latest Fiscal Allocation and Statutory Disbursement (FASD) report which covered the period 2020-2021 said  NUPRC, former Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR’s) contribution represented 18.83 per cent of the total remittances.

Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, Executive Secretary of NEITI, at the unveiling of the report on Thursday in Abuja said NUPRC was followed by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) which contributed N2.13trillion or 14.81 per cent.

The 2020-2021 NEITI’s FASD Report examined total extractive industries revenue remitted to the Federation Account, tracked allocation and disbursement from the account to statutory recipients, utilisation and funds application by beneficiaries.

Orji, while presenting the report said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) contributed N1.55 trillion or 10.8 per cent while the least contribution was from the solid minerals with N13.33 billion, or 0.09 per cent.

“The report revealed that the contribution by the NNPC declined significantly by 56 per cent, along with the FIRS, whose contribution also dropped by 10 per cent.

“The decrease in the revenue remittances by both the NNPC and FIRS was attributed to the decrease in revenue generated from crude oil exports in 2021,’’ he said.

Similarly, Orji said non-mineral revenue of about N4.80 trillion (or 33.37 per cent of total remittances, increased by N3.86 billion from 2020 to 2021.

“The highest contribution of N2.69 trillion, or 18.71 per cent came from the Company Income Tax (CIT), followed with N2.025 trillion, or 14.08 per cent from the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and N85.25 billion, or 0.59 per cent from other tax sources.

“As the revenue from CIT in 2021 declined by 5.25 per cent from 2020, the revenue realised by the NCS in 2021 increased by 40.55 per cent while other taxes significantly recovered from a deficit in 2020 to a positive balance in 2021,’’ he said.

Orji said the remittances from royalty and other fee payments from  DPR and MMSD (solid minerals) increased significantly by 84 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively for the corresponding years.

According to him, receipts from VAT, which increased significantly for the two years period, resulted in the remittance of ₦3.18 trillion or 22.1 per cent of total remittances to the Federation Account, while revenue generated by NCS increased by 41 per cent.

He further revealed that Federal Government, States and Local Governments shared ₦5.42 trillion mineral revenue during the period under review.

“In terms of disbursements to the three tiers of government, the report showed that while a total of about ₦5.42 trillion was distributed to the Federal, State and Local Governments for the period.

“A total of ₦859.66 billion was deducted as 13 per cent derivation and shared among the nine oil producing states after the deduction of excess petroleum profit tax (PPT) and Royalty.

“The nine oil-producing states include Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo, and Rivers.

“A breakdown of the disbursements showed that while the Federal Government received about ₦2.80 trillion, the 36 state governments got ₦1.45 trillion, and the 774 Local Government Areas received a total of ₦1.17 trillion,’’ he said.

The executive secretary said the report noted 2021 as the year with the highest revenue distribution across board, with two per cent increase between 2020 and 2021.

Abuja, Sept. 16, 2023: The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Dele Alake, says the Federal Government will work with states to harness the country’s solid mineral resources.

Alake gave the assurance when Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State paid him courtesy visit on Friday in Abuja.

“The  ministry will work with governors to harness mineral resources for maximum socio-economic development of the country.

“Nasarawa state is very significant in terms of the development of the mineral sector and we are putting the mechanisms together.

“We want to make sure that the nation derive maximum benefits from this God given gift of  minerals that are in abundance in Nigeria,” Alake added.

The minister, who described solid minerals as the next petroleum of Nigeria, assured that the country would harness and utilise the resources efficiently and effectively.

Alake however emphasised the need for effective synergy and coordination in all the dynamics surrounding minerals exploration, exploitation and judicious utilisation of the resources.

He appreciated the governor for the visit, adding that partnership between the federal and states would promote and bring strong development to the sector.

Earlier, the governor expressed confidence in the new minister, saying Alake’s appointment was a win win situation for the entire nation.

The Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA), has concluded its mega mineral clinic to ensure that goals scored in area of geosciences data generation are digested by investors.

The Director-General of the agency, Dr Abdulrazaq Garba, said this on Saturday in Abuja, at an occasion of its Mineral Promotion, Sensitisation and Dissemination (Mineral clinic), organised by the agency.

Garba said that the aim of the clinic was to encourage Nigerians to take advantage of the investment opportunities offered by the geosciences data generation.

He said that the programme was a milestone of the agency’s commitment to mineral promotion, sensitisation, and dissemination which are in line with the present administration’s agenda.

He said the NGSA would go the extra mile to ensure that geoscience information on Nigeria’s mineral resources is disseminated to the public for investment purposes.

He said that more wealth and jobs can be created if investors take advantage of the data.

According to him, the aim of the mineral clinics is to expose investors, academia, students and stakeholders, through sensitisation and dissemination of geoscientific information on various solid mineral deposits in the country as well as respond to inquiries from the public.

“The mineral clinic is like an Open Day. In our effort to make available geosciences on a continuous basis, we will present three recent publications to the public.

“These publications are Phosphate Resources of Nigeria, Evaluation of Brine along the Benue Trough and Assessment of graphite Occurences in Saulawa Village, Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State, Northwest,” he said.

The director-general said that the agency would be more fulfilled, when people deployed the generated geosciences data available for economic transformation of the country.

He said that one of the agency’s mandate was to generate geoscience data for wealth creation and national development.

“To achieve this, the over 100-year-old exploration agency stepped up exploration and assessment of projects in greenfield and brownfield, using a unified sampling and data capturing system in line with international best practices.

“The data generated by the NGSA prompted the agency to re-organise the Mineral Clinic in six geopolitical zones, which was a huge success.

“In the zones, over 400 potential investors attended the mineral clinic and over 100 samples of rocks and minerals were tested with Hand-Held XRF free of charge.

“We are also making plans to extend such gestures to all states in the country.

“This, we believe, will spur the desired goal in creating awareness, sensitisation and dissemination of geoscientific data to the lowest level,” he said.

Garba said that the antecedent results were amazing because reliable geoscience data in metallic and industrial mineral has been generated and spurred the desired investment into the sector.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Oluwatoyin Akinlade, represented by the Director, Special Duties of the ministry, Mrs Comfort Kabirwa, said that the mineral clinic was designed to provide a veritable opportunity for stakeholders to interact and be better informed on mineral.

According to Akinlade, it was not designated as clinic by chance but, I believe it is aimed to diagnose and treat pertinent issues that affect the mineral and metal sectors.

“I am therefore very optimistic that at the end of the event, we will all be better informed about mineral in the country and this should lead to better economic decisions for mutual benefit of all,” he said.

The Permanent secretary said that the sector is faced with many challenges, adding that the challenges have not deterred the agency from making appreciable progress on many fronts.

Mr Auwal Bununu, Nigeria Association of Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) mining group, said that the geosciences data would help to provide necessary information to the public on mineral activities.

Bununu appreciated the agency for the success of the Mineral Clinic, adding that the NGSA should continue to make steady progress in facilitating its vision of transforming the sector for industrial growth and economic surplus.

The Acting President, Miners Association of Nigeria, (Man), Alhaji Musa Mohammed, said that the association would continue to work with the agency to achieve its objectives.

Mohammed said that the collaboration would strengthen the sector and offer better understanding of the sector, through exchange of ideas and knowledge.

The Emir of Zazzau, Dr Ahmed  Bamalli, has advised Kaduna State Government to reach out to investors to explore the huge untapped mineral resources in the state.

The Emir made the call at the opening of the 7th Kaduna Business Expo, with the theme, `Building a resilient Economy’, on Thursday in Kaduna.

Bamalli said the government needed to showcase more of the state’s mineral deposits to the international community.

He particularly advised the government to participate in the solid minerals exhibitions in Thailand, where global investors in the mineral sector converge.

” When I was serving in Malaysia, I invited Kaduna and other states in Nigeria to participate in certain areas of investment especially the solid minerals sector; this is one area that I feel is still untapped.

“We have all the minerals that you can think of in this state, there is need for Kaduna state to wake up and join the international community because Thailand is the hub for expo on solid minerals.

“Worldwide, people go to Thailand annually for the exhibition and that is where you meet strategic partners that will come and support what you do here.

“Support in terms of machineries, so that at least you have the technical know-how on processing, because we have very large deposits of a varieties of precious stones,” the Emir added.

He said that most Nigerian mineral resources seen at international expos were assumed to be from places like Bangladesh, Gambia and other places.

“Certainly, we have a lot to offer and we have large deposits of these precious stones.

“So, if you need any support in that regard, we can link up with the embassy and see how it goes,” he said.

Bamalli commended the state for remarkable investments made in the field of ICT and agriculture

“We are proud to say that Kaduna is still leading in the area of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

“The deployment of ICT in every sector of the economy will certainly assist the state.

“What is being done in the area of agriculture is remarkable and I hope that moving forward, the next government will build on the already laid foundation.”

In his opening remarks, the Commissioner of Business Innovation and Technology, Dr Kabir Mato said the government would continue to invest in education and business development to create jobs and grow the economy.

“The Kaduna state government has continued to make massive investments in the education sector, including digitising the operations of state-owned tertiary institutions, training of teachers and purchase of computers at the secondary school level.

“This year, the Tech Village initiative became operational, focusing on artisanal tech skills by training and equipping residents to assemble smartphones, computers, and other ICT equipment.

“Our singularity programme to prepare young people for the future when Artificial Intelligence surpasses the understanding of mankind, is also well underway,” Mato said.

The commissioner said the government had in 2020 issued 85 mineral exploration licenses, 40 quarry licenses, 15 mining leases and three small-scale mining leases.

He said that the licences and leases were for some mineral deposits available in commercial quantities including gemstones, gold, tantalite, columbite, manganese, lithium and nickel.

Mato expressed the hope that the 7th Business Expo would explore the mining industry in the state and identify progress made, challenges and prospects.

He challenged the participants to identify issues and proffer solutions toward making geo-scientific data available for improved investment decision-making.

The commissioner added that the expo should explore innovative strategies for creating access to finance for firms and businesses operating in the mining sector.

This, he said, would optimise the mining value chain, increase job opportunities and economic diversification.

The Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI) has been directed to provide a six-month report on the Solid Minerals Development Fund.

The directive was given by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday on the fund which was designed to capture accruals from investments is part of the president’s effort to enthrone probity and best practice in the mining sector.

At a briefing by the Steering Committee and Management Team of PAGMI at the State House, Buhari asked the team to scale up operations in the mining sector by ensuring that investments go beyond artisanal and small-scale levels.

“The PAGMI Management Team should now develop innovative ways to move PAGMI to the next level to ensure the Nigerian mining story goes beyond artisanal and small-scale mining.

 “I support the Steering Committee’s target of aggregating 3-5 tons of gold over the next 12 months, as this will deliver tremendous fiscal and economic benefits to the nation. The Solid Minerals Development Fund should work with all relevant Government agencies to identify the support and funding needed to deliver on this aggregation target.

“Now that you have successfully delivered a pilot scheme in Kebbi State, it is time to roll out and expand sustainably across other states.  The government is committed to providing all the necessary support required,” a statement by presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, quoted the president as telling members of the committee.

Buhari urged PAGMI to ensure that the Solid Minerals Development Fund fast-tracks delivery of other directives to support the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative.

He said all stakeholders should conclude the ongoing assignment of recommending a portion of accruals to be dedicated to the Solid Minerals Development Fund.

 “The dedication of a portion of accruals to create a sustainable income stream for the Solid Minerals Development Fund is essential to delivering the mandates assigned to the Fund. The development of a sustainable funding stream for the Fund will conclude the implementation of the Fund’s Establishment Act, which is a key focus area for this Administration.

“This initiative is of great pride to me because through our intervention we can reach hardworking Nigerians in the field, toiling and the quarries under the sun trying to earn an honest living.

“We have been able to protect them from clutches of those who exploit their hard labour, while simultaneously bringing them into the value chain to earn improved income from their hard work. I expect a six-month progress report that will clearly show significant progress by scaling up the program from its current pilot stage”.