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Mining’s Huge Potential for the Nigerian Economy -By Fatima Ibrahim Maikore

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Mining in Nigeria

 

Mining is the extraction (removal) of minerals and metals from the earth. Manganese, tantalum, cassiterite, copper, tin, nickel, bauxite (aluminum ore), iron ore, gold, silver, and diamonds are just some examples of what are mined. Mining is a money-making business that contributes to the revenue of countries and mining companies, while workers also derive their livelihoods and other benefits as well as the community from this activity.

Organised mining in Nigeria started in 1903 when the northern protectorate survey was created by the British colonial government. The southern protectorate was founded in 1940. However, mining attained its highest peak in the Jos plateau of Nigeria with the extractions from large reserves of tin, columbite and coal. These successes became reversed on the discovery of hydrocarbon in Nigeria in 1956.

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The Ministry of Mines and Steel Development was unbundled in 2005 to reposition the mining sector, after its establishment in 1995. Its newer responsibilities included the formulation, implementation and regulation of policies related to the mining sector. In addition, it was to create a sustainable policy on wealth creation and job opportunities that would guarantee livelihoods.

Currently, there exists the following regulatory frameworks for mining in Nigeria:

• Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, NMMA 2007
• Nigerian Minerals and Mining Policy, 2008
• Nigerian Minerals and Mining Regulation, 2011.

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However, 90 percent of all mining activities in Nigeria are carried out by artisanal and small scale mining operators. All over the world, an estimated 13 to 20 million men, women, and children from over 50 developing countries are directly engaged in artisanal mining. But in Nigeria, about 500,000 people are directly involved in this, with over 150,000 of them being women and children to who it constitutes sizeable source of income.

Unfortunately, mining has its dark sides, especially when it’s not properly regulated. At every stage in the life cycle of mines, the environment is always at the receiving end of the impact of the activity. Mining involves disturbances of the earth surface. In open cast mining, a large volume of earth materials is often moved away to reach the ore deposit. This causes the distortion of the geomorphological features. The overburdened materials may end up being washed into waterways to cause siltation.

Clearing large expanses of land for mining activities have adverse implication on biodiversity, wherein forests are destroyed and animals lose their natural habitats. Heavy metals, which are most times liberated from the ore, often contaminate the soil and water bodies. A typical example of such contamination is the so-called Acid Mine Drainage, where heavily acidified water from mines drain into water bodies thus polluting them, making them very hazardous for aquatic lives to thrive. There are many other social and environmental problems that are associated with mining activities. However, with stringent regulations and the right policies, the proper balance is struck such that mining provides the needed revenue for the development of the host country.

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In Nigeria, it appears that the right policy framework has been formulated but the implementation of these policies has become very challenging for the regulatory authorities. The authorities appear helpless in the face of pervasive illegal mining activities going on around the country, which has caused untold hardship to the country. It causes the country to lose serious investors, in addition to terrible environmental damages. Because of the nature of their operations, government is not able to collect royalties from them. They involve in mineral commodity smuggling, while causing social conflicts with host communities.

There is need for government to retool and retrain the staff of the ministry of mines and steel development in order to properly equip them with the right skills to devise appropriate strategies to tackle illegal mining in Nigeria. The ministry needs to be provided with all logistical requirements such as field vehicles to enable them to traverse the vast areas with mining potentials in the country. There is also the needs to foster a strong synergy between the ministry and other relevant agencies such as the security agencies, the national environment standard and regulatory agency, so as to curb the menace of illegal mining in Nigeria.

Fatima Ibrahim Maikore is a geologist with the Ministry of Solid Minerals in Abuja and one of the ambassadors for promoting Managing Mine Closures in Africa. She can be reached via maikoreif@yahoo.com.

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