By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
The Senate has vowed to ensure that the country’s mining sector is free of illegal and detrimental activities that are currently denying the Federal Government huge revenue and breeding food and physical insecurity.
This came as the Governor of Niger State, Umaru Bago, pledged the preparedness of the state to collaborate with the National Assembly to enact legislation that would help sanitise and reposition the sector and make it beneficial to all relevant stakeholders, including the Federal, and state, LGAs and solid minerals’ rich communities in the country.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals, Senator Sampson Ekong, according to a statement by his media team on Sunday in Abuja, expressed the commitment to foster a safe and profitable mining sector by the upper when he led other members of the panel on a visit to Governor Bago in Minna at the weekend.
The visit to the Governor by the Committee, according to the media team of Senator Ekong, was in continuation of its investigation into a collapsed mining pit in the state where about 30 lives were reportedly lost and how to stop future occurrences of that nature.
Senators Diket Plang, Amos Yohanna, Professor Anthony Ani, Okechukwu Ezea, and Sani Musa (who moved the motion on the mining pit collapse), as well as the Clerk to the Committee, Mr. Paul Kapnam, are members of the Committee that accompanied Senator Ekong on the visit to Governor Bago.
Ekong lamented that the activities of unauthorized miners have continued to hinder the Federal and State Governments from realizing the benefits of the projected multi-billion dollar minerals sector in Nigeria.
He said the sector is exponentially threatened by illegal practices such as unauthorized mining with crude systems, environmental endangerment, and unregulated operations that pay little attention to safety or industry best practices.
The statement added that the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Ekong (PDP-Akwa Ibom South), outlined the purpose of the visit.
He said, “Your Excellency, let me also use this opportunity to commiserate with you sincerely and, indeed, the people of Niger State over the tragedy that befell the State on Monday, June 3, 2024, when a mining site collapsed in Shiroro, and which led to several fatalities. Our hearts and prayers continue to abound with you over the unfortunate incident.
“Our visit to Niger State today is a response to the mandate given to our Committee, as part of the resolve of the Senate, to undertake an on-the-spot visit to Niger, over the ill-fated Shiroro tragedy, ascertain remote causes and engage with critical stakeholders towards averting similar occurrence in the future, chart pathway to sustainable sector development and report same to the Senate, for further legislative consideration.
“It would be recalled that on Monday, June 3, 2024, the nation was engulfed in the grief of the collapse of a mining pit in Galadima-Kogo village in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.
“Many lives were lost, families bereaved and displaced in the fatal rock slide. I must commend the Senator representing Niger East, Senator Sani Musa, for urgently calling the attention of the Senate to the sad incident at plenary.
“The site, it was discovered, belongs to African Minerals and Logistics Limited. The incident was one of our many recent mining pit tragedies.
“It is with great worry that we must acknowledge that the realization of the projected multi-billion dollar minerals sector of Nigeria is exponentially threatened by illegal practices in the sector, such as unauthorized mining with crude systems, environmental endangerment, and unregulated operations with very little attention to safety or best practices in the industry.”
According to the panel chairman, Nigeria’s solid minerals sector has the potential to generate huge revenue for the government, diversify its economy, and maximally improve the GDP.
However, he lamented that Nigeria loses so much daily to illegal mining.
“These illegal, black market-styled mining have also thrown up fresh dimensions to insecurity in the country. Thus, we must work together to arrest these loopholes and help reposition the sector.
“As a Senate, we are reviewing and exploring legislative interventions to engender sustainable sectoral growth in Nigeria’s mining industry. Today’s visit allows us to compare notes further with relevant players in the sector.
“I want to assure you that the Senate will not be fettered in its commitment to stamping out illegal mining in Nigeria, as well as ensure operational sanity and adherence to standards among practitioners in the sector.”
He commended the Niger State Government and the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals for their timely interventions in the Shiroro mishap.
In his response, Governor Bago, a former member of the House of Representatives, said the state is ready to partner with the Senate and, by extension, the National Assembly to enact legislation that would curb illegal mining, reposition the sector to improve internally generated revenue for government, and equally cater to the needs of communities where solid minerals are being exploited.
Bago said, “Artisanal mining has cost us lives and properties. It has encouraged banditry and insecurity. Yesterday, we met with stakeholders in the state to start a new initiative called responsible mining.
“While I was in Brazil, we got this concept and how it is done so that companies, for instance, who would be permitted to do mining in communities would have to understand that there are post-mining effects.
“So, provision of potable drinking water, not the same water used to wash the mines, provision of health facilities, schools, even transition from mud houses to good houses.”
