The mining of solid minerals in Edo state has been controversial. There is no laboratory to test the type of solid minerals that companies are mining in Edo North. There is no database to know the number of companies that are operating in solid mineral sector in Edo North. Who are the companies that bought solid mineral deposits in Edo North? The Federal Government cannot give account of the revenue from the mining of solid minerals in Edo North. The people of Edo North have not benefitted from the derivation from solid mineral. The Federal Government has given approval for the implementation of the constitutionally guaranteed 13 per cent derivation from mineral revenues to deserving states. States with active mining of solid minerals in their domains are to receive 13 per cent derivation revenue, just as their counterparts in oil and gas producing areas. The former Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Kayode Fayemi, said serious-minded operators in the mining sector would soon be granted access by the government to the intervention finance for mining from the National Resource Fund.
From pre-independence to post-independence, Obu River has been a gold mining area of Etsako in Afemai land. Akoko Edo and Ihievbe-Ogbe Owan East are also gold mining areas in Afemai land of Edo North. I challenge companies which are in Edo North to provide a laboratory for testing of solid minerals in Nigeria if actually they are sincere in their mining operations. The mining in Edo North is beyond gold and limestone because it has exposed the corruption in Nigeria’s solid minerals sector where there is no laboratory to test the solid mineral you are exporting.
Edo state needs a database for all mining sites most especially gold mining sites in Edo state. Governor Obaseki should go beyond the protection and lifting of the ban on gold mining in Dagbala Community, Akoko-Edo local government area of the state. I want to appeal to Governor Obaseki to investigate how much revenue Edo is getting as derivation from solid minerals. Despite the fact that gold, diamond, marbles and other solid minerals are being mined in Akoko Edo, Edo state and there is no record to show that these minerals are among the mined or exported minerals in Edo state. My further finding shows that gold and other solid minerals are mined in Etsako West, Etsako East, Owan East, Owan West and Akoko Edo local governments, they are also purchased by multinational oil companies as drill fluids, despite high activities of miners there are no records of royalty payments and derivations paid to Edo state. Governor Obaseki needs to find out the powerful individuals that now control solid mineral deposits in Edo. The truth today is that potential investors cannot get deposits to mine even after obtaining mining license from Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals in Abuja.
The challenge before Governor Obaseki in the Edo solid minerals is to ascertain how many companies that illegally bought the solid mineral deposits in Edo state. How comes that investors with licenses have no deposits to mine in Edo? How many companies that are operating in the Edo solid minerals? How many companies that are paying taxes and royalties to the federation account? How much revenue is Edo state receiving from federation account as derivation from solid minerals? In term of corporate social responsibility, what are the companies doing in their various host communities?
THE exploitation of solid minerals is in the exclusive legislative list, which makes it a preserve of the Federal Government. In Edo state, for example, it is said there are about 20 solid mineral deposits, which include; Marble, gold, granite, lime stone, kaolin, gypsum, feldspar dolomite, salena, tantalite, gemstones, quartz, bitumen, bentonite, laterite and sharp sand. They are scattered across several villages and communities in Akoko-Edo, Etsako West, Owan East, Owan West and Etsako east local government councils of the state.
For instance, in Dagbala, Akoko-Edo local government area, companies who get their license from the Federal Government are mining a deposit of gold. Edo State has an abundant supply of one of the world’s most beautiful and durable marbles. Although the exact size of Edo’s stone industry is unknown, there are more than 60 known deposits of marble, with 35 different types in different colours. Edo’s chessht and khogiani marbles have been favourably compared to Carrara marble, an Italian marble that is considered to be one of the finest in the world,
I want to call on Governor Obaseki to investigate how much revenue is Edo getting as derivation from solid minerals. Despite the fact that gold, marbles and other solid minerals are being mined in Akoko Edo, Edo state there is no record to show that these minerals are among the mined or exported minerals in Edo state. My further finding shows that solid minerals are mined in Etsako West, Etsako East, Owan East, Owan West, Akoko Edo and Ovia South West local governments, they are also purchased by multinational oil companies as drill fluids, despite high activities of miners there are no records of royalty payments and derivations paid to Edo state. Governor Obaseki needs to find out the powerful individuals that now control solid mineral deposits in Edo. The truth today is that potential investors cannot get deposits to mine even after obtaining mining license from Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals in Abuja.
No evidence of royalties payment from the available records of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, there were no evidence of royalty payment on these exported minerals which derivations will be paid to Edo state.. The Nigeria Minerals and Mining Act 2007 require that any exporter of solid minerals must request for permit to export minerals. But in defiance to the act, there was no available evidence of request for permit or approval to export minerals by the companies operating in Edo state. The informal players are mostly artisan miners, medium scale operators and illegal miners who hardly keep any record. Some of the minerals mined in Nigeria and Edo state are exported out of the country by formal and informal players.
There are no official records from Ministry of Mines and Steel Development on the actual volume of minerals exported out of Nigeria and Edo State within the period under review from 2011 to 2015. However, the few records available relates to transactions that were done by the formal players as they passed through the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria Customs Service and Nigeria Export Promotion Council.
Federal, states and local governments are losing huge amount of money annually from untapped and tapped resources that abound in the nation’s soil. Nigeria is estimated to be losing about N8 trillion annually from untapped gold. The estimates are monies that should have accrued to the federation account from royalties, taxes, charges and other fees from companies and individuals operating in the solid mineral sector if the Federal Government had paid enough attention to the development of solid minerals in the country.
However, the Mining and Mineral Act of 2007 which puts the exploration and exploitation of mineral resources in the exclusive list has hindered state like Edo from developing mineral deposit in their jurisdiction. Nigerians put the blame at the feet of federal politicians that have paid lip service to fiscal federalism
At different fora the Minister of Solid Minerals Resources, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, continued to harp on the money-spinning potential of the sector as well as its capacity to significantly impact employment generation in the country. Speaking at the third edition of the Chief John Agboola Odeyemi Annual Lecture at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife, Fayemi noted that the country’s mining sector had the potential to contribute N5 trillion (about $25.3 billion) annually and significantly impact the prospects of creating thousands of job opportunities. The sector’s under-performance becomes more glaring when its contribution to the country’s GDP was put at 0.55 per cent, compared with that of other African countries with less quantity and numbers of products as Nigeria. Records show that the sector contributes 40 per cent of Botswana’s GDP, in South Africa it is 18 per cent while it is 25 per cent in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Edo solid minerals sector has greater capacity to generate revenue than oil. Edo has large deposits of untapped solid minerals. But with the declining revenue from oil, the Federal Government and Edo have to opt for diversification of the economy, making solid minerals one of the sectors to focus on. Governor Obaseki should make attempt to diversify the Edo economy and make it less dependent on oil as its major revenue earner. “The reduction in global crude oil prices is not expected to cease at least in the short run, thus the need to diversify the economy. One key sector which offers great potential in achieving this is the solid minerals sector.
Donald writes from Abuja via [email protected]
