A bill seeking the establishment of a Solid Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission to address the environmental devastation and other related matters in the country, on Tuesday passed second reading in the Senate.
The bill, sponsored by Senator Yakubu Oseni (APC Kogi Central) also has the objectives of formulating policies and guidelines for the development of the mineral producing areas.
Senator Oseni further informed while presenting the bill that it seeks to provide for the accelerated development of the Nigerian solid mineral sector so as to diversify the nation’s economy and reduce the dependence on the dwindling oil revenues.
Other objectives of the bill as explained by him are “conception, planning and implementation, in accordance with set rules of projects and programmes for sustainable and regulations, development of the minerals producing areas in the field of transportation including roads, health, employment, industrialization, agriculture and fisheries, housing and urban development, water supply, electricity and telecommunications.”
Senator Oseni added that the piece of legislation is also aimed at preparing master plans and schemes designed to promote the physical development of the minerals producing areas.
According to him, “contemplated overhead costs, recurrent and capital expenditure of the Commission when established is N158,042,050.32.”
“I make bold to say that Nigeria is richly endowed with a variety of solid minerals of various categories ranging from precious metals to various precious stones and industrial minerals. The Nigerian Extractive Industries and Transparency Initiative (NEITI) reported that there are approximately 40 different kinds of solid minerals and precious metals buried in N igerian soil waiting to be exploited.
“The sector offers a viable alternative to petroleum for foreign exchange earnings.
“Globally, the mining industry has been a close rival to the petroleum industry, while Nigeria only earns a paltry $89 million per annum from it. The commercial value of Nigeria’s solid minerals has been estimated to run into hundreds of billions of dollars,” the lawmaker stressed.
Contributing, Senator Smart Adeyemi (APC Kogi West) said the importance of the commission cannot be overemphasized, noting it would enable government to regulate mining activities and save government trillions of naira being lost to illegal activities in the country.
In his remarks, the Senate President Dr. Ahmad Lawan, charged the Committee on Solid Minerals to conclude legislative work on the bill and report back within four weeks.
