Ayo Oyoze Baje
“Those powerful people behind illegal miners are Nigerians; we are identifying them with both kinetic and non-kinetic means. The insecurity in the mining areas is sponsored by illegal miners, and these are powerful individuals in the society.”-Dele Alake (Minister of Solid Minerals Development, December 2024 )
“Those powerful people behind illegal miners are Nigerians; we are identifying them with both kinetic and non-kinetic means. The insecurity in the mining areas is sponsored by illegal miners, and these are powerful individuals in the society.”
-Dele Alake ( Minister of Solid Minerals Development, December 2024 )
While appraising the persisting, painful paradox of preventable mass poverty amid vast natural resources, including several highly valued solid minerals the factor of the failure of government, to rein in the monstrous masterminds behind the diversion of humongous sums of our common patrimony, for selfish gains of the untouchables keeps recurring. That is, from one administration to another.
Yet, they have so far succeeded in the deployment of terrorism as a masquerading mask, behind which they carted away precious solid minerals while taking Nigeria to the 5th spot on the 2025 Global Terrorism Index, GTI. For the record, back in 2017, the Muhammadu Buhari-led government estimated that the country was losing $9 billion annually to illegal mining. It stated that the losses arose largely from the illegal export of gold, lead, zinc, tin, and coal extracted in various parts of the country. Lithium has been added to the list in recent years. The socio-economic implications are deleterious to the quality of life of the average Nigerian, who has to navigate between the horrors of hunger and the hydra-headed insecurity, virtually daily. And as Alake also highlighted, illegal mining deprives the government of royalties and taxes. This scandalous situation raises some pertinent and pungent questions.
For instance, is it true, as former governor of Edo state and current Senator Adams Oshiomhole has insinuated, that some retired army generals are those behind the killing spree of the innocent citizens by Boko Haram terrorists in states such as Borno, Adamawa and Yobe? Could it also be right that the sustained wanton wasting of precious lives in Benue and Plateau states by the herders is all because of the solid minerals therein and not mainly to achieve a land-grabbing agenda? That is the position of both Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of Kogi Central District. So, what is illegal mining all about, who are those behind it and what should be done to curtail its menace? Credible answers are needed to assist the government to fashion out the best way forward, so that the revenue accruing from mining would benefit the people God has blessed them with.
It is important to note that illegal mining activity is mainly undertaken without state permission. Put simply, it is the extraction of precious metals/rocks without following the proper procedures to participate in legal mining activity. These procedures include permits and licenses for exploration of the land, mining as well as transportation.
The situation has become worrisome because though Nigeria is blessed with some 44 different types of officially identified solid minerals, found in diverse quantities and found in over 500 locations across the country, the citizens have not been benefiting from its abundance. The Solid Minerals Development Fund, a partnership of Nigeria and the African Finance Corporation, estimates the country’s potential mining industry at $700 billion. Also, Agusto & Co says gold from Zamfara alone can net $1.4 billion annually, while Olugbenga Okunlola, President of the Geological Society of Africa, estimates gold deposits in Osun State to be worth $ 5 billion.
Interestingly, gold is also available in Niger, Kebbi, Kaduna, Kogi and Kwara.Others include Katsina, Kano, Nasarawa and Bauchi states as well as the FCT. Kogi and Nasarawa states have a reportedly rich diversity of many solid minerals, while every Nigerian state has at least a few types in commercial quantities. But have we capitalised on them? That is the million-dollar question.
It has been discovered that in several states, illegal mining is an organised industry with the situation exacerbated by complicit officials, local chiefs, and some self-serving security personnel.
But the ill side to it is as found in Zamfara state, where it has led to lead poisoning of children, locals, water sources and the soil. Yet, the bandits hide under these negative aspects to carry out their nefarious activities.
. Another source of serious concern is the seeming aloofness, or incapacity of the federal government to identify, prosecute and bring the culprits to justice. For instance, in 2021, the then minister of solid minerals Uche Ogah, stated that “gold smuggling in Nigeria is often done using private jets.” He added that the country lost $5 billion to gold smuggling in six years from 2012 to 2018. In all honesty, such economic brigandage should not be allowed to continue.
Cumulatively, these have made it possible for the secret mining deals, along with the military blind spots, and a decade of underground resource exploitation by the insurgent group, Boko Haram, in Borno state, rich in gold, lead and tin, as revealed by recent media reports.
As our political leaders grapple with ways of increasing internal revenue, mining offers a yet-to-be-tapped source of revenue. Besides, it possesses great potential as a catalyst for industrialisation, as well as increasing both youth employment and boosting exports. Unfortunately, the inexcusable neglect of the sub-sector in preference for oil and gas has provided the illegal miners an opportunity to reap bountifully from what does not belong to them. But why have they been succeeding? It is all because of the influence and organisational capacity of some well-articulated masterminds, including foreign nationals, traditional rulers, and powerful individuals.
On the best way forward, there is a need for the federal government to identify the sponsors of insurgency and illegal mining and bring them to speedy justice. There is also a need for
a holistic collaboration with the state governments, security operatives, traditional rulers, youth leaders and even religious organisations to stem the tides of both illegal mining and terrorism. We have had enough of the shedding of innocent citizens’ blood in exchange for gold.
