By: The nation newspaper

Nigeria, the most populous African nation is blessed with abundant mineral resources which are yet to be tapped. These resources include but not limited to the following: Gypsum, Gold, Lead, Granite, Iron Ore, Cobalt, Lithium, Magnesium and Columbite. The federal government, in an effort to revamp the ailing economy is contemplating on diversifying the nation’s economy by exploring the economic potential in mining sector which is a right step in the right direction. This action can be seen in the recent bill that was sponsored and presented by one of the lawmakers in the National Assembly.  The bill is to ensure adequate funding for mineral resources exploration and extraction through public-private-partnership. One of the objectives of the bill is to make sure that our mining sector reaches its full potential, creating jobs, fostering economic growth and enhancing Nigerians self-sufficiency in mineral sector. The primary goal is to secure adequate funding for exploring and extracting Nigeria’s abundant mineral resources through public-private sector participation. The bill will also provide for the creation of a technical management and advisory council comprising experts in law, geology, mining engineering, banking, and civil engineering.

It is my conviction that once this bill is passed into law, it will definitely solve most of the challenges in the mining sector. For instance, today the sector is being dominated by illegal miners who are not professionals. These set of miners operate in an unsustainable way and are engaged in unethical practices; not only that, they also do not operate in line with international best practices.

Even some  so-called professionals who possess valid mining licence do not operate in accordance with the federal government’s regulations. For instance, there have been cases of some mining companies that do not operate in line with international best practices. A recent example is the pathetic story in the Vanguard of January 7, concerning a registered mining company operating in Ebonyi State.  According to the story, two communities in Ebonyi State, Enyigba and Ezza, have a large deposit of lead which is supposed to be a blessing but unfortunately, it has brought untold hardship and misery to the two host communities. A mining company was granted a licence by the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals to mine lead in the two communities. As a result of their unsustainable practices, the two communities have been seriously devastated with the sources of their drinking water and soil  contaminated by lead.  In fact, many people in the two host communities have been afflicted by lead-related ailments, resulting from the eating crops, vegetables, fruits, tubers, grains harvested in the two places and drinking polluted water. One of the community leaders in Enyigba Community Chief Ewa Nworie was quoted to have said: “We are not finding it easy to live in this community.  Lead pollution is affecting both our health and farm produce, our water is already polluted and the soil is contaminated by lead”. The people in the two communities are now appealing to the federal government to come to their aid.