The ongoing activities in the solid mineral sector have been very impressive and they have been producing great impacts in the nation’s economic diversification agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration. Thanks to the new leadership of the ministry. This goes to show the significance of effective leadership and how it can result in efficient management of public policy.
That leads me to the indisputable conclusion reached by the stakeholders in the solid minerals sector that the most striking revelation in the cabinet appointment of President Tinubu is the honourable minister of the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development.
As has been rightly observed, since Dr. Dele Alake came in as minister of Solid Mineral, giant leaps have been achieved and have activated strategic policy actions that focus on investment in the $20trillion worth of solid minerals resources embedded in Nigerian soil that if properly managed or harnessed can become the bench mark for measuring our economy instead of oil.
The focus is to harness the wealth, which includes the value chain components, and transform the Nigerian economy from oil to solid minerals through broad based investments that bring huge amount of revenue to the national treasury. This is what Alake has introduced and he is doing in the Tinubu administration.
After critical examination, I have aligned myself with the encapsulating editorial of the Nigerian Pilot on February 23, 2024, which stated, “From all indications, Dr. Alake seems to be fully on course. Notably, and more recently, the stakeholders – which included mining companies, marketers, experts and public officials – have been upbeat, acknowledging the economic revival of the sector in an unprecedented way. They have also consistently expressed their firm faith in and support for the Alake-led mining sector reform which is targeting macro-economic investments.
“For instance, in the past couple of weeks, the representative of the stakeholders of the mining sector in Nigeria and the chief executive of Daroo Nigeria Limited, Alhaji Mohammed Abba Liman, through media reports, has been assisting the government in encapsulating the vision, policy direction and drive of Dr. Alake to local and international investors”.
The newspaper equally noted, “Among several activities, a major highlight was the Future Minerals Forum (FMF) which was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and hosted by the Saudi Ministry of Industry Solid Mineral Development in which, according to Liman, Dr. Alake made Nigeria proud and that he effectively marketed Nigeria’s solid minerals to the global investors who strongly indicated interest in investing heavily in the sector”.
It is important to state that the minister’s recent appointment as the head of a body of African Ministers of Solid Minerals is a big leap for Nigeria’s solid minerals sector. The objective of the organisation is to build a profitable synergy among member states, harness and market African solid minerals resources at the global stage so that citizens of member countries can benefit from it.
That timely editorial intervention is a big testament, which acknowledged the fact that, the leadership and managerial roles in the country’s proactive move to diversify the economy by leading the biggest platform, big money target and market engagements in Africa.
At Daroo Nigeria Ltd, what we have been able to achieve is that, we have become a rallying point for the miner made very big local and international investors in the economy. We have been leading other miners in the country. We have taken advantage of Alake’s creative leadership system that has led to a boom in the sector to strike wonderful and lucrative partnership with Saudi Gold Refinery and other investors from countries such as the United Kingdom, Turkey, China and France, among others.
The mining stakeholders have worked very hard to partner with investors who have indicated interest in bringing $20billion investment into the Nigerian economy. Miners in the country have consistently taken our stand to support the ongoing economic diversification agenda.
I will continue to acknowledge the fact that, the appointment of Alake is a groundbreaking development that will further open multi-billion dollars investment opportunities in Nigeria’s solid minerals sector to global investors.
This is what the stakeholders in the sector have been canvassing for years until the coming of Alake as the minister of Solid Minerals Development. We are glad that he is heading the African ministers of solid minerals known as Africa Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG).
There is no doubt that for him to be elected as the pioneer chairman is a validation and recognition of his proactive and result-oriented global marketing of Nigeria’s solid minerals investment opportunities. As has been widely reported, his performance as the minister within a short period has transformed the solid minerals development activities in the country.
Miners are ready to continue to cooperate with the federal government through the Ministry of Solid Mineral Development under the leadership of Alake towards achieving the full and beneficial implementation of the solid mineral development policy in the country. We are glad that the government has recognised the mining community in the country as critical partners in the development of the sector. As miners, we will continue to create interactive platforms with government.
Liman, miner and chief executive of Daroo Nigeria Ltd, writes from Abuja