Ondo wants confab report on solid minerals implemented

ONDO State Government yesterday appealed to the Federal Government to speedily approve and implement the reports of the National Conference in order to ensure rapid exploitation of the solid mineral resources for the benefits of the people.

Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Aderotimi Adelola stated this in an interview with journalists after members of the Post–Mortem Sub Committee under the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission visited the state to advise on the importance of solid minerals especially on the 13 percent derivation that could be enjoyed from any natural resources located in the state, among others.

Adelola, who described the visit as a way of enhancing robust relationship between all arms of the government, maintained that the nation’s constitution incapacitated the state from deriving maximum revenue from the solid minerals and as such, there is need to include the process of exploring and activities related to solid minerals located in the state to the concurrent list.

He posited that the Federal Government should relinquish some powers to the state government, so as to develop its solid minerals in order to increase revenue from both oil and non–oil sectors of the economy.

The Secretary to the State Government said the influence of the Federal Government in controlling solid minerals has militated against development of solid minerals, while efforts of the state are being stalled by several constitutional bottlenecks.

Corroborating his view, the Ondo State Commissioner for Environment, Chief Sola Ebiseni, observed that much power and dominion on solid minerals reside in the Federal Government, while the owners of the resources at the remote areas are being neglected.

He said Ondo State has lots of mineral resources but can only create awareness to attract investors, while in the course of other transactions between the federal Government and the investor; there is no recourse to the state government.

Ebiseni said this led to the neglect of corporate social responsibility by some investors and as such called for constitutional reform on solid minerals, as discussed at the National Conference, saying the meeting will be highly productive if there can be statutory reform to assist the discourse.

He decried the inability of the Federal Government agencies to adequately inform the state on the activities and registration of miners, and as such, it is impossible to assist in the prosecution of illegal miners because there is no synergy or interaction between the state government and the Federal Ministry of Mining.

In his view, the Commissioner for Finance, who is also a member of the Post Mortem Sub Committee, stated that bulk of the revenue derived from solid minerals goes to the Federal Government, adding that the concentration of the government on crude oil has further hindered the development and exploitation of solid minerals which is located abound in the country.
He therefore, explained that Nigeria will see it as alternative following the recent dwindling in the value of crude oil at the international market and thus called for the need to allow the state to independently develop its solid minerals.