The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Olamilekan Adegbite, has said that the fact that no less than 35 million tons of unprocessed solid mineral commodities are exported annually has negative implications for Nigeria.
According to him, the export of unprocessed solid mineral commodities creates wealth and jobs in foreign lands while it leads to massive losses in opportunities for wealth and jobs for Nigerians.
The minister, who made the disclosure in an exclusive interview through his Special Adviser on Special Duties, Mr Sunny Ekozin in Abuja, on Sunday, said the ministry had been working round the clock to actualise presidential directives for the development of the mining sector, adding that the proposed Nigerian solid minerals downstream workshop, scheduled for 2nd December 2019, was a strategy that aimed to fully deliver the potential of the sector for economic diversification.
Adegbite explained that one of the steps taken was the process of developing the Nigerian Downstream Mineral Policy. According to the minister, the policy is first of its kind in the history of the country.
He noted that the downstream mineral policy would trigger the nation with a clear diversification blue print in a sustainable manner, especially for the revamping of Ajaokuta steel company.
While saying that it would pave the way for effective harnessing of the abundant minerals with which Nigeria was endowed across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, he explained that as part of the process leading to the revamping of the entire solid minerals sector, government, through the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, “is sensitising key stakeholders, especially large investors of the novel initiative for the development of solid mineral downstream value chains.”
While reiterating the commitment of the ministry to ensuring that the President’s mandate was realised within the next three years, the minister explained that President Muhammadu Buhari had given marching orders to his ministry for the completion of the Ajaokuta Steel Company.
“For the past three months, we have been doing everything possible to ensure that we make progress and we are happy to let the nation know that the President has given us full backing in this assignment,” he disclosed.
Discussing the political will of President Muhammadu Buhari to develop the mining sector, Adegbite said, “The support given by the president includes political backing to ensure that Ajaokuta Steel Company works, and by the grace of God it will work soon,” adding that part of the directives by Buhari was for the sector to solve long intractable problems bedeviling the solid minerals and to ensure Nigeria could rely on the sector to diversify its economy.
He said that after articulating the problems for the past three months, the administration was on the path to harnessing the potential that abound in the minerals sector for the benefit of the people in the country.
He added that government was strategically revamping the country’s mining sector in order to create large-scale job opportunities while creating wealth and industrializing the country, noting also that the administration had taken decisive steps to end the export of jobs.
