The National Assembly has raised a dust on who the patrons of illegal mining could be in Nigeria. This happened during a meeting where the report of the Senate Committee on Solid Mineral Development was discussed. The meeting was prompted by a report presented by Senator Sampson Ekong to the Senate Committee on Appropriation. The National Assembly revealed that the retired generals who were not named are raking in billions of dollars from the unchecked illicit trade.
Ekong’s committee had recommended to the Appropriations Committee that the sum of N539 billion as the capital budget be given to the solid minerals development ministry in the 2025 Appropriation Bill. That was far beyond the proposed N9 billion as the capital vote for the ministry for this fiscal year. He said that was because his committee believed that the proposed amount was grossly inadequate to tap the available potential in the sub-sector.
According to Ekong, the ministry of budget also agreed with the lawmakers that the Ministry of Solid Minerals deserves more money. He said, “This is given the fact that from the little vote the ministry had last year, they were able to ramp up revenue for the country to about $37 billion.”
However, there is a senator who is not happy about the way matters are being handled with regards to mining in the country. He is Senator Adams Oshiomhole, representing Edo North.
He said the story of illegal mining being backed up by some unnamed retired generals did not come to the open today. According to him, he first learnt about it when he sent party agents to conduct a primary in Zamfara state when he was the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC. They reportedly told him they saw people carrying arms , and claimed they were allegedly funded by retired generals who appeared to be above the law. Senator Oshiomhole said he wrote to then President Muhammadu Buhari, who he said did nothing to curb the malaise.
Hear Oshiomhole: “These guys have been weaponised by the illegal big men who deployed a secure territory. The weaponry was made to protect the Chinese and other foreigners, and that’s why they actually are going to carry out the mining. So, the retired military officers, army officers, are involved in it.”
He told his colleagues that the national assembly should tell the executive to take a strong step about this development, so that the dream of diversification of the economy will not be aborted. The senator is of the view that the government should apply the kind of energy deployed to battle oil theft in the Niger Delta to pursue the illegal miners.