The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, yesterday, hosted Governors of Kwara State, Abdulrahman Abdulrasak, Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Umar Bago (Niger State) in his office to discuss mining sector development.

Bago, who addressed journalists after the meeting, said that issues around revalidating licences given to mining firms that have gone out of their scope dominated discussions alongside the need for them to re-register in the states with specificity as regards the location of mining in addition to security challenges faced by mining operators.

Alake, in his remarks, said that with his deliberation with the governors, grey areas had been ironed out, restating the commitment of the Federal Government to sanitising mining operations in the country and ensuring adequate security through rejigging of the nation’s security architecture with the active cooperation and collaboration with the states.

“We are moving forward to sanitise mining operations in Nigeria to ensure adequate security of lives, property, and operating environment. The devastation caused by security breaches has been discussed exhaustively and we are resolving all of these to ensure the objective of rapid development of the mining sector is achieved in the shortest time possible,” the minister said.