Insecurity had bedeviled mining sector, says Alake

.Inaugurates 2,220 mining marshals to safeguard solid minerals

Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, on Thursday, said that the continuing insecurity across the country had bedeviled the mining sector.

In an effort to combat the insecurity problem, Alake inaugurated 2,220 mining marshals from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to safeguard solid minerals across the country and charged them to smoke out illegal miners.

While receiving the marshals from the Commandant-General, Abubakar Audi, who represented the Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Alake charged the new operatives to stem theft and all nefarious activities around the nation’s mineral resources so that the nation can reap maximum benefits from its God-given resources.

It will be recalled that as a result of the efforts of the presidential Inter-ministerial committee on securing natural resources chaired by Dr. Alake, the Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Ojo, a few weeks ago launched the NSCDC-led mines marshal, which represents the first layer of the new security architecture to secure the mining environment.

Speaking during inauguration in Abuja, Alake said: “Insecurity had bedeviled the mining sector of the economy and it had combined with all the variables to really short change Nigeria in terms of revenue generation in the sector.

“So, amongst others, the issue of combating insecurity in this sector became quite unknown for the success of this minerals sector in Nigeria. Without the security of the mining sector, we can’t increase the revenue yield. I hope and believe that minerals are the next saving revenue of the Nigerian economy.

“We want the mineral sector to contribute more than 50% to the gross domestic product of Nigeria, and that is our long term objective, so, securing this operating environment is critical to the achievement of this objective. We marched words in action.

“We rolled up our sleeves at the cost of our delegations and conceptualized all of these policies and executed them. The President himself personally was involved and is still evolved today to give teeth to security proposals.

“The President set up an inter ministerial committee, comprising the ministry of solid minerals; Ministry of Marina blue economy; the Ministry of Interior; Ministry of Defence Ministry of Police Affairs; the Ministry of Environment and amongst others, and I chaired this ministerial committee.”

Highlighting the role played by his interior counterpart in the evolution of the new security outfit, Dr. Alake commended Hon. Olubunmi-Ojo for putting words to actions and working tirelessly with the solid minerals ministry to achieve the feat.

He added, “Today’s event of unveiling and formally handing over the specially trained and selected civil defense structure to engage illegal miners and sanitize our mining environment was also part of what we conceived at the inter-ministerial committee chaired by me. I am very happy to let the public know that from the outset we said we are going to tackle insecurity in the mining sector and the first batch of the security apparati is what we are launching today.”

In his remarks, the Commandant-General of NSCDC, Abubakar Audi, expressed confidence that the new mines marshals will effectively protect national assets and infrastructure, including solid minerals.

Audi revealed that the marshals will liaise with mine inspectorate in states to garner intelligence and take directives from the ministry for effective execution of its mandate.

Also speaking, Chairman, House Committee on Solid Minerals, Hon. Jonathan Gbefwi, praised the initiative, stating that enhanced security around mining areas will lead to economic growth for Nigeria.

He said: “When the Minister revealed his 7-point agenda during his inaugural address, which included the Mines Police, not a few people were skeptical about it. But today, he has matched words with action. On behalf of the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I doff my hat for him and say, “Well done.” You can be rest assured of the continued support and cooperation of the House of Reps and, by extension, the National Assembly. ”