Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, has revealed that a recent estimation of Nigeria’s solid minerals deposits based on the limited geo-data available pegs the country’s mineral deposits at $700 billion dollars.
He said the country’s minerals deposit estimates may soon run into trillions of dollars if the scope of geo-data is expanded to cover the entire country.
He said the future of the country is extremely bright and Nigerians need to exude confidence in its ability and capacity to weather the storm of economic and societal restructuring.
The minister added that although a lot of Nigerians are crying out of hunger, the present administration is working assiduously, saying its policies are presently in the gestation period and when it matures, Nigerians would cry out in excitement.
Alake said this on Tuesday in Abuja during the commissioning of the National Seismic Monitoring station-5 Katampe, organised by his Ministry through the National Geological Survey Agency (NGSA).
He said: “The renewed hope agenda of this present government covers all aspects of human endeavour, it is not limited to eruptions. We are extending the frontiers of knowledge even in the ministry of solid minerals. When we came in, we rolled out a seven point agenda covering all aspects of solid minerals. The first thing we did is to put the solid minerals of Nigeria on the global map.
“Our president is a finance person, he understands public finance. He understands the structure and dynamics of governance. And he has done it before in Lagos state.
“When we started the restructuring of the economy of Lagos of course, because humanity resists change, there was resistance, just as we are seeing today. Where people are crying, we are hungry, that is the plank of restructuring.
“Today’s event is one of the results the other results the globalisation of our marketing efforts are generated a lot of interest global interest in solid minerals. So we have droves of investors foreign and local, making inquiries, wanting to get into the solid minerals game.
“In fact at the last estimate by a foreign institution, based on the limited geo data available, it is estimated that we have over $700 billion worth of minerals under our soil. And that’s just the limited data available. Imagine when we expand the scope of geo data to cover the entire country. “
