Guardian Nigeria
Despite the huge natural resources in Nigeria, poor management has had a profound impact on the economy, leading to missed opportunities for growth and development.
Experts during a two-day training organised by The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) in Abuja, on the theme: ‘Constraining Opportunities for Corruption in the African Mining Sector’, said despite the country being rich in natural resources, its economy still faces huge challenges such as rising unemployment rate, declining manufacturing production, the rising level of poverty and poor infrastructural development.
According to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Nigeria is a player in the global energy landscape, having combined reserves of crude oil and condensate reaching 37.50 billion barrels and reserves of associated gas and non-associated gas standing at 209.26 trillion cubic feet (TCF).
The country also has about 44 minerals in commercial quantities. South Africa generates 42000MW via coal-fired plants compared with Nigeria which generates less than 5,000MW for about 200 million people.
The experts noted that employing good management of natural resources will invariably translate to socioeconomic prosperity while poor management will result in penury and underdevelopment.
They added that over-concentration on the oil sector while neglecting other natural resource sectors in the country over the years, has negatively affected the economy.
Assistant Chief Geologist, Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, Investment Promotion and Mineral Trade Department, Fatima Maikore, said to achieve sustainable development, good public management of the nation’s natural resources must become a central agenda.
She added that there is a need to develop a natural resource management framework that will recognise the criticality of the nation’s natural resources as crucial assets for development.
Chief Executive Officer of CJID and Premium Times, Dapo Olorunyomi, said there is a huge gap in understanding the contribution of the sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), even though the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports this contribution to be 4.4 per cent.
He said data availability and reliability are among the biggest challenges to understanding and planning in the African mineral sector. In Nigeria, specifically, data is unavailable for the sector’s contribution to the national fiscal pot, the employment index, export receipts, and general participation in both the formal and artisanal sub-sectors.
