Recently, the president of the Miners Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Sani Shehu, and the Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Jonathan Richardson agreed that Nigeria is not exporting a lot of minerals at the moment while they expressed hope that improved funding for the sector, knowledge sharing and completion of mining projects in progress will lead to the realization the country’s potential for large scale export of solid minerals. FRANCIS ADINOYI KADIRI who was at a mining forum organised by Australian stakeholders, report
Major stakeholders agreed yesterday that Nigeria is yet to live up to its potential of exporting solid minerals in large scale, a dream which when realized, will strengthen the country’s economy while creating job opportunities for her teeming jobless youth.
Sadly, the potential of the mining sector to boost the Nigerian economy, create jobs, provide resources that will serve as a basis for foreign exchange and huge revenue earner is seriously threatened by a number of factors which if not promptly and correctly tackled, will continue to militate against the development of the sector.
The position of the Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Richardson is that all will be well when the mining projects in progress are completed. According to him, “in Nigeria, mining is still at its infancy.”
The envoy expressed conviction that the country will live up to expectation when the projects are successfully concluded.
“The projects are still in stages of exploration and development but they have not yet reached the stage of capable constructions operating as new mines,” he said adding that the Australian government has collaborated with Nigeria toward developing the potentials of the Nigeria mining sector for maximized export.
Describing the progressive relationship between the two countries, the diplomat said Australia and Nigeria have had very active collaboration
across a number of sectors including mining for the last several years.
“Our Political and diplomatic relations have expanded and Australia has also expanded her development cooperation with Nigeria, Australia has increased its exports across sectors,” he said adding that collaboration of Nigeria and Australia on international issues has been robust and it is helping the economic cooperation between the countries.
While saying that Nigeria is a large exporter of crude oil to Australia, he added that in terms of trade, Australia earned over $2billion in the recent two years via exports.
“We collaborate in some areas such as wheat which is used in Nigeria for semovita and things like that. There is also collaboration in engineering services and other services. Australian companies are operating in Nigeria as providers of infrastructural services.
“The mining sector is also of considerable interest to Australia because we have a number of Australian mining companies operating in Nigeria.
Australian companies are exploring and developing mining projects in Nigeria.
Richardson said in the last ten years, a number of Australian mining companies have come to Nigeria to explore particular minerals and that some of the companies have really developed grand mining projects in Nigeria.
“Most mining projects take some years to develop: You have to explore and develop the results and then estimate how much it will cost to make new projections. You need to know the minerals there, and what it will take to get them.
“So we are still waiting to see some of these projects become actual new mines, and that would be a very important step because they will be genuine internationally financed mining projects, and we want Australian mining companies to be in the forefront of genuine mining investment.
The President, Miners Association of Nigeria (MAN), Sani Shehu said the Nigerian mining industry has very high prospects because the sector’s mineralization is very high adding that minerals deposits are numerous and in high demand.
According to him, government should follow up the resources by determining the viable deposits through generation of geological data, he said adding that government has started doing this.
He said indigenous operators have engaged in mining business even though they lack enough data on available minerals but they are luck to stumble into a number of mineral deposits.
The miners’ president identifies poor mechanization as another challenge of operators in Nigeria.
“That is why we are asking government to intervene in funding need of the solid mineral sector,” he said adding that in countries like South Africa, Australia, government invested in the mining sector, and later left the private sector to drive the sector.
“In Nigeria, government made little investment in mining.
There is need for adequate and continuous data generation, and establishment of a dedicated funding for the mining industry.All these have to emanate from government and other development agencies.
Sani said apart from the issue of funding, development partnership should be established between foreign investors in mining and indigenous operators in Nigeria, there is also need for information sharing between the two groups. “That is why today’s occasion is very important to the development of the Nigerian mining sector because Australia is sharing its knowledge and experience with Nigerian government and operators.
Nigerians are learning from the Australian experience. The information sharing will help a lot. We are building the intellectual component in mining, and so I think today’s occasion is a step in the right direction.
“It will also encourage the government’s thinking of diversifying the economy. Government has severally repeated its aim of diversifying the economy through the mining sector.
In addition, we are looking for additional inputs from other mining nations. We want Canada, South Africa and other developed mining nations to also lend support to the initiative of the present administration by organizing this kind of knowledge-sharing fora.
“We hope that what Australia is doing today will graduate into sustainable development partnership between Australian investors and Nigerian mining operators
Advising the incoming minister of mines and steel development, the Miners President said:
The first thing the incoming minister should know is to that he needs to take time to study and understand the sector.
“The mining sector is a technical and commercial sector. As minister, a lot of information would come his way, but he needs to understand the sector in order to take the correct decision.
“The incoming minister should also extend a hand of friendship to the operators. The incoming minister should know that it is not enough to rely on reports and papers; it is good that he should also contact the operators.
I am not saying that he should not depend on reports, but I am saying that he also need advice from people who have been operating the sector and who practical experience of the state of the Nigeria solid mineral sector.
So the incoming minister of mines and steel development needs to raise a team of competent advisers who are operators. He should carry everybody along.
Sani lamented that the country has not generated solid minerals commensurate with its enormous deposits. “Considering Nigeria’s enormous solid mineral deposits, I can assure you that what is currently being generated is grossly inadequate, and that is why I said government should invest in the sector so that the sector can develop, and then more revenue can be generated,” he said.
