Many residents of Ibadan, the sprawling capital city of Oyo State, won’t forget in a hurry what befell them on Tuesday, January 16, when dynamites stored in a residential area exploded and shattered the relative peace in the state. To those close to the epicenter of the explosion, it was like a scene in a horror movie. Many were left wondering if the rapture had finally taken place. The effects of the blast would stay with many for the rest of their lives.
The people were about to retire to their homes when there was a loud explosion that shook the city to its foundation. There was confusion everywhere as to what could have caused such a loud bang. But when the dust settled, the source of the explosion was traced to a street in the Bodija area of the state where dynamites stored in a residential apartment exploded.
The explosion, we gathered, followed a minor fire accident in the building occupied by Malians who are into illegal mining in Oke Ogun Area of Oyo State. Neigbours recounted witnessing a fire outbreak, but the occupiers of the house, rather than staying to put out the fire, had dialogue with their legs (apologies to Chinue Achebe), knowing that what was stored in their compound could go off, and indeed, it exploded.
The sound of the explosion was heard several kilometers away. Houses in the adjourning area were reduced to rubbles. Eight people have been confirmed dead while over 80 were injured. About 60 houses were also affected by the explosion, and the trauma caused by the blast would last a lifetime for some. A Hotel Manager in the vicinity became the latest victim of the blast after suffering a heart attack. His weak heart could not cope with the sudden, unfortunate turn of events.
Seyi Makinde, Governor of the State has confirmed that dynamites and other dangerous devices used by illegal miners and stored at their residence caused the explosion. He also confirmed that foreign nationals were responsible for the explosion and that he is contemplating signing an executive order that would make it mandatory for miners in the state to store their work tools, including dynamites, with the military.
However, this is like prescribing medicine to a dead man. It is of no effect to those that have died and the thousands that have been rendered homeless. Was the Governor aware that such dangerous items are stored in a residential apartment? Was he aware that illegal miners are freely operating in the state, and if yes, what are the steps he took to guide or regulate their activities to avert disasters such as this? With the worst having happened, who is going to compensate landlords whose houses have been reduced to rubble in the area? Who will pay for the hospital bills of those hospitalized or the trauma many are going through as this is a clear case of negligence? Again, another question begging for a desperate answer is why did the neighbours and landlords’ association in the area keep quiet when they knew that such dangerous items were kept within their vicinity? Who will provide us with answers?
Mining that should be a source of income to the Nigerian government and a way through which poverty can be alleviated has now turned to harbinger of sorrow to Nigerians. In Ibadan, it has left the people in tears and blood. Rather than for the Federal and State governments to make money from the mining sector to improve the lot of the masses, it has brought death and garnishing of the teeth, no thanks to gross negligence and lack of organization
Truth be told, the mining and solid mineral sector has been taken over by foreigners, due to the little or scant attention given to the sector by the Federal government, and since nature abhors vacuum, foreigners are having a ball at our expense.
Precious metals such as Gold, Iron, Lead, Zinc, rare metals, coal, gemstones, and many others are in the bowels of our soil. These mineral deposits were formed at different stages in the geological evolution of Nigeria. Sadly, despite this mineral endowment, the country’s mining sector has failed to meet public expectations as a sector that could drive economic growth. Presently, the sector contributes less than 1 percent to the nation’s annual GDP.
Paradoxically, a country that is so much endowed with God’s given solid minerals remains so poor. Prior to independence, the solid mineral sector was a good source of revenue for Nigeria. During this period, Nigeria was known for the production of coal as an energy source for electricity, railways, and also for export. Tin, Columbite, Lead and Zinc were also exported. It fetched the nation good foreign exchange until the discovery of oil changed the trajectory for Nigeria.
This abnormality can be attributed to overdependence on oil, political instability, a poor legal, regulatory, and institutional framework, and a lack of up-to-date geoscience data that can facilitate investment decision-making. With the government not looking in the direction of the sector, foreigners are having a field day, making millions out of our misery. In the south-west, our neighbours from Mali, Togo and Senegal and Chinese nationals are the lords of the manor in charge of our mining sites. But they actually employ locals whom they pay peanuts to do the actual digging for them.
A 2021 report put together by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives (NEITI) showing employment data from the sector indicates that the sector’s contribution to employment in 2021 was 25,618 people, out of which 596 are expatriates and the remaining 25,022 are Nigerians. The report also shows that there was an increase of 85 percent in the number of artisanal miners’ operators, from 1, 273 in 2020 to 2,336 in 2021. The sector has also contributed a meagre N814.59 billion in 15 years to the nation, with earnings in 2021 put at N193.55 billion at its peak. Yet, this is a sector that could fetch the country billions of dollars every year.
Many countries the world over are making billions of dollars from their solid mineral sectors every year. The leading mining countries include Australia, Chile, China, Russia, Canada, Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, South Africa and the United States of America (USA). USA is a global leader in the production of Copper, Gold Molybdenum, Phosphate rock, rare earth, salt, soda ash, Zeolites and Zinc. The sector contributed $110 billion to its GDP in 2022 alone.
But in Nigeria, bandits and terrorists are in charge of our mining sites, especially in the North. Before insecurity became a household name in Nigeria, politically exposed people and Chinese nationals held sway in the mining sector, digging for gold and other precious minerals. Whatever is mined and is of economic benefit is taken out of the country in private jets and other small aircraft.
Lately however, bandits have succeeded in driving the foreign miners out of such sites and are now directly involved in illegal mining activities up North. They now abduct and kidnap locals to work for them as slaves on those sites. Some are paid, while many work for free. Whatever is gotten from the bowel of the soil is taking across borders in exchange for guns and other sophisticated hardware.
Presently, an estimated 80 per cent of mining activities taking place in Northern Nigeria are carried out illegally and on an artisanal basis by local populations. It is also the root cause of crisis and insecurity in several communities.
In 2010, there was an outbreak of lead poisoning in Zamfara State which led to the death of over 500 children. Prior to the incident, the Federal Government had banned mining in the state, as police considered illegal mining to be behind the orgy of violence and kidnapping in the region. Many souls have also been lost due to the collapse of many illegal mining sites in the country. In one of such incidences last year, four illegal miners were killed following the collapse of a mining site in Kogo Kadage village in the Yadagungume area of Ningi Local Government Area of Bauchi State. The miners were trapped while digging for lead and trying to excavate it.
Recently, about 30 people were killed in a landslide caused by the activities of illegal miners in the Kuje Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on July 14, arrested 13 Chinese nationals over alleged engagement in illegal mining activities in Ilorin, Kwara State. A discrete investigation on the activities of the miners in Kwara State revealed that the operators have different illegal mining sites in almost all the 16 local government areas of the state.
Again in Taraba State, a Task Force on the Enforcement of the Ban on Illegal Mining and Deforestation arrested 3,500 illegal miners in the Bali local government area of the state. The chairman of the task force, Brig.-Gen. Jeremiah Faransa (rtd), said that the illegal miners arrested were from Mali, Senegal, and Chad.
On September 1, operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), arrested 34 suspects for allegedly carrying out illegal mining operations in Rumuokarali/ Rumualogu community in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.
With oil now gradually becoming irrelevant in the world due to several factors, the Nigerian government is now looking at alternative sources of income for the nation, and the solid mineral sector is finally receiving some attention. President Bola Tinubu appointed one of his trusted aides, Dele Alake to head the Solid Minerals Ministry, and it is hoped that he will be able to turn the fortunes of the sector around.
Alake is now proposing the establishment of the Nigerian Solid Minerals Corporation, which would be similar to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, which is expected to have subsidiaries doing business in the seven priority areas that require immediate intervention and focus. These are gold, coal, limestone, bitumen, lead, iron ore, and baryte mining. Existing enterprises, such as the National Iron-Ore Company, and ongoing arrangements, such as the Bitumen Concessioning Programme, will be reviewed to fit into the new system.
Similarly, the corporation is expected to provide robust support for Nigerian businessmen seeking funding abroad and help authenticate their investment proposals to speed up the commitment of their partners to invest. The company will also help secure financing for local businesses to facilitate investments in mining at interest rates that will be mutually agreed upon. The belief that the emergence of the corporation in the business of mining will enable the ministry to focus more on its core regulatory and promotional mandates of sanitising the sector and developing ideas, processes, and institutions that facilitate the ease of doing business in the industry.
Alake is now looking at the sector contributing at least 50 percent of the national GDP, an ambitious project that I don’t believe is achievable. It would be more conceivable if the activities of illegal miners were reduced to the barest minimum, making the work environment safe to recongised miners to tap into our God’s given resources for the benefit of Nigerians. The work tools in the industry, such as dynamite and other explosive materials, should also be taken away from residential quarters so that there won’t be a repeat of what took place in Ibadan in any other part of the country.
See you next week
