₦airaland Forum

The country
lost $50bn
(N8tn) in the
last two years
to
neighbouring
countries as a
result of illegal
mining and
exportation of unprocessed gold.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Linus
Awute, said this on Wednesday during an interview on the sidelines of the
Nigerian-Brazil Investment Forum in Abuja.
He described the loss as monumental, adding that the activities of illegal gold
miners were far beyond control.
Awute, however, added that the Federal Government had put in place
mechanism to address the problem.
He said, “What the country loses to illegal mining is tremendous; but the truth
is that the amount of gold that left this country because of the illegal mining
activities was more than $50bn in the last two years.
“The amount of unprocessed gold that has left this country through the
neighbouring countries, Ghana in particular, and being processed in Ashanti, is
enormous.”
Awute, however, said the Federal Government had begun the process of
formalising the operations of illegal miners in the country, adding that such a
move would help to generate revenue in the form of royalties to the
government.
He said, “The solution to informal mining or illegal mining is to get them
formalised and that is what we are doing right now. We have over 600 groups
that formed themselves into cooperative societies.
“The most exciting thing is that there is tremendous increase in the percentage
of accruable royalties to the government through the regularisation of their
activities.’’
Awute pointed out that a road map for the development of the mining sector
had been produced by the ministry, adding that the framework would help to
set out vital programmes to be implemented in the short, medium and long
term.
The permanent secretary said a new policy that would help to enhance
performance and regulate the sector adequately had been put in place.
He also said the ministry had forwarded a draft Metallurgical Bill to the Ministry
of Justice to provide a veritable tool to regulate and monitor activities in the
metal sector.
The bill, according to him, will ensure efficient operations in the industry in line
with world best practices as well as improve the working conditions of the
people.
He said, “If the sector is well developed, it will provide alternative sources of
internally generated foreign exchange that can be used to fund critical
infrastructure projects.
“It will also aid the creation of economic activities and organised settlements in
the rural and semi-urban centres as well as create employment opportunities.’’

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