Babatunji Wusu –
In an attempt to halt the flow of money being lost in the solid mineral industry, the federal government has taught 120 young people in Plateau State how to mine artisanally and on a modest scale.
The week-long capacity building program came to a close in Jos on Friday, organized by the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme.
Mr. Ajasin Tokunbo, the Chairman of the RMAFC Research and Development Committee, bemoaned the solid minerals sector’s meager revenue contribution to Nigeria and attributed it to the non-formalization of the operations of several industry participants.
Tokunbo stated that the commission tasked with overseeing the accruals into and distribution of revenue from the Federation Account under the terms of the constitution had noticed over time that the solid mineral sector’s accruals into the account had been pitifully small in comparison to the hydrocarbon sector’s.
Additionally, he pointed out that the current state of affairs is in direct opposition to what was achieved in the 1970s, when the Nigerian economy was supported by earnings from the solid mining industry.
He stated that the RMAFC and other development partners chose to teach artisanal miners in Plateau state and formalize their activities in order to reverse the negative perception and increase money from the industry into the Federation account.
In keeping with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the administration has been working hard to diversify the country’s economy away from an excessive reliance on hydrocarbons and toward other industries including manufacturing, solid minerals, and tourism, among others.
Because their activities are largely informal, artisanal and small-scale miners in Nigeria make up around 80% of the country’s mining industry but make up very little of the federal account. In order to ensure that the informal ASMs are encouraged to formalize their operations and are properly trained for maximum performance, the federal government is collaborating diligently with organizations like the UNDP and the EU. This will allow the country to reap the benefits of their activities while also preventing them from being taken advantage of by the so-called big operators in the sector.
“The purpose of these activities was to identify the problems that the ASMs were facing and to highlight the necessity of working more closely with the subnational governments to find solutions.
The chairman, who was accompanied by Vice Chairman Ambassador Ayuba Nubaco, stated, “The project’s goal is to address specifically the problems of Tin Artisanal and Small Scale Miners and the possibility of formalizing their activities through registered Cooperatives in order to capture them into the tax net and consequently boost revenue from the sector into the Federation Account.”
Mr. Mohammed Yahya, the UNDP’s representative in Nigeria, stated that the organization will keep helping Nigeria meet its development objectives.
The 120 artisanal miners who were chosen from six cooperatives in the state received some machinery and equipment from Yahya, who was represented by Mrs. Precious Akanonu, National Economist for the UNDP.
Plateau Minerals Development Company’s managing director, Martins Darwan, expressed gratitude to the federal government and development partners for their initiative and for saving the state’s artisanal miners.
In the interest of the state and its citizens, he pleaded with the administration to take into consideration the prospect of turning the numerous mining ponds dispersed throughout various localities to more fruitful uses, including electricity generation.
“We think that Plateau will benefit more if our request is approved,” he said.
