The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has revealed that a recent estimation of Nigeria’s solid minerals deposits based on the limited geo-data available pegs the country’s mineral deposits at $700 billion.
He said the country’s minerals deposit estimates may soon run into trillions of dollars if the scope of geo-data is expanded to cover the entire country.
He said the future of the country is extremely bright and Nigerians need to exude confidence in its ability and capacity to weather the storm of economic and societal restructuring.
The minister added that although a lot of Nigerians are crying out of hunger, the present administration is working assiduously, saying its policies are presently in the gestation period, and when they mature, Nigerians will cry out in excitement.
Alake said this on Tuesday, February 27, in Abuja, during the commissioning of the National Seismic Monitoring Station-5 Katampe, organised by his Ministry through the National Geological Survey Agency (NGSA).
He said: “The renewed hope agenda of this present government covers all aspects of human endeavour, it is not limited to eruptions. We are extending the frontiers of knowledge even in the ministry of solid minerals. When we came in, we rolled out a seven point agenda covering all aspects of solid minerals. The first thing we did was put the solid minerals of Nigeria on the Global Map. How did we do this? By marketing the potential that we have in Nigeria to the investing world,.
“The world is moving away from fossil fuels because of their contribution to global warming, and their adverse effects on the environment. The oil revenue is dwindling, so we have no choice. But to go back to the soil and solid minerals is the next savior of Nigeria, whether we like it or not.
“Our president is a finance person, he understands public finance. He understands the structure and dynamics of governance. And he has done it before in Lagos state. And I don’t say this just to massage its ego. I was there. I witnessed it. I was part of the policy conceptualization, policy formulation, policy execution, policy monitoring throughout his tenure as governor. So it’s not just a fluke.
“When we started the restructuring of the economy of Lagos of course, because humanity resists change, there was resistance, just as we are seeing today. Where people are crying, we are hungry, that is the pain of restructuring.
“So what we are going through today in Nigeria, we are in the throes of the gestation period of the restructuring policies of this government. Every government policy has a gestation period with which to mature. When it matures, after that gestation period, the results begin to manifest and then the windfall comes that’s what happened in Lagos. That’s why when people shout today, I’m not worried at all because I know the dynamics. I know the sequence and I know that at the end of the gestational period, the same people shouting today will cry hosanna tomorrow.
“So my admonition to us all in Nigeria today is to brace up and wait through these gestation periods believing that we are approaching the Eldorado, their is light at the end of the tunnel. “These policies are going to germinate positive results, and this country is going to be better or the best for it. And the policies that we’ve put in place in solid minerals also have a gestation period. But fortunately for us, we are beginning to see results in so short a time.
“Today’s event is one of the results the other results the globalization of our marketing efforts are generated a lot of interest global interest in solid minerals. So we have droves of investors foreign and local, making inquiries, wanting to get into the solid minerals game.
“In fact, at the last estimate by a foreign institution, based on the limited geo-data available, it is estimated that we have over $700 billion worth of minerals under our soil. And that’s just the limited data available. Imagine when we expand the scope of geo-data to cover the entire country. We’ll be talking about trillions and trillions of dollars worth of minerals embedded in our soil. So the future of this country is extremely bright. What we need to do is exude confidence in our ability and capacity to weather the storm of restructuring, economic and societal restructure. We must also restructure our minds. Our mental capacity, we must restructure it.”
He added: “In Nigeria, the God given blessing of protecting us from natural disasters of any sort has made us become very indulgent, very lazy and of course, ultimately, not as advanced as the rest of the world where these disasters occur. Some may query my logic but I will explain, when you have the permissive society, the people become laid back, physically and mentally and the art of thinking and creativity is pushed to the backburner. Contrary or ironically, in societies where you have these unfortunate disasters, they are forced to think to prevent occurrences or reoccurrences of such.
“When you take electricity, for instance, Nigeria has been battling with electricity, and my theory tells me that it’s because we don’t have snow. We don’t have winter. We don’t have extreme weather because if we did, if we had, we would be forced to think and we would be forced and compelled to act to prevent disaster.
“So when there is a need for humanity to survive, humanity will be forced to think and proffer solutions to the problems. I am not advocating for natural disasters, but I am saying that the blessings we have as a nation are supposed to be platforms for us to spring forward. That is why, the event of today, underscores its prominence and significance. We are now being forced because we’ve had a couple of tremors in Shaki, here in Abuja and other parts of the country, and who knows where the next place. So I’m happy that we are now being compelled to think and act.
“And that is why the government is prepared to support any act of creativity from whichever quarter, as long as it is directed at proffering solutions to the problems of our environment. Now, seismic tremors can occur anytime, anywhere. With this kind of equipment,. We can monitor, and we can make preparations. We can make adequate anticipatory or contingency arrangements to ameliorate any impending disasters or the fallout of such disasters. So I’m very, very happy this is taking place now.
“The NGSA and, of course, the Ministry of Solid Minerals have taken this bold step to monitor seismic tremors anywhere in Nigeria and we are going to expand the scope to cover more areas.”
The minister added: “In 2016 alone, Nigeria witnessed two occurrences of earth tremor in Bayelsa and Shaki. A year later in 2017, another tremor occurred in Kwoi, Kaduna State resulting in minor damages on buildings and road infrastructures and on 5th September, 2018, the Mpape tremor took place affecting areas such as Maitama, Katampe and part of Gwarinpa. Just when the dust was about to settle, another earth shaking was felt at Panama street of Maitama District on November 1st, 2018.
“The absence of a single seismic detection and monitoring instrument in the FCT then has hindered proper understanding of the nature and origin of these tremors. The Ministry after gathering reports on the likely causes of the tremor from NGSA and other relevant bodies immediately banned all quarrying and drilling activities within the FCT as temporary measures and directed the immediate installation of earthquake monitoring stations in strategic locations around the FCT.
“These stations are located in University of Abuja Gwagwalada, Nasarawa State University, Keffi and the Veritas University, Bwari with the centre at NGSA Headquarters Utako. Other stations are NGSA Offices in Kaduna and Ilorin. These seismic monitoring stations will enable the detection and monitoring of future occurrence of earthquake and tremor in and around the FCT and shall therefore help to upscale the level of safety in the FCT.
“In addition to the above, the data generated from the stations are critically required by researchers and construction companies to aid their decisions on siting of infrastructures such as dams, bridges, mines, processing plants, airports, high rise buildings, military and communication installations and other heavy infrastructures that require competent and stable foundations.”
The Director General (DG) NGSA, Dr. AbdulRazaq Garba said the consequences of destructive ground motions including earthquakes could place a heavy burden on the society and national economies, particularly in developing countries. In order to avoid or at least to mitigate the negative effects of such events a thorough scientific knowledge of their geological and geophysical causes, their structural, kinematics and dynamic characteristics as well as a developed capability to monitor and to analyze them is indispensable.
He added: “Though Nigeria is not in the category of those referred to as earthquake-prone countries, in recent times, there has been increased occurrence of low magnitude seismicity in parts of the country such as in Mpape and Maitama in FCT Abuja; Kwoi and Kagaroko in Kaduna; Ilorin in Kwara State; and Shaki in Oyo State.
“In response to this and recognizing the risk earthquake could pose to life, critical infrastructure and national development, the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency moved to establish a network of Earthquake and Seismic Monitoring Stations.
“The the Agency’s active seismic monitoring stations located in Utako-Abuja, Kaduna, Ilorin, Keffi and now Katampe-Abuja are equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation and linked to the International Federation of Digital Seismograph Networks (FDSN),
“All the stations including the Katampe station are equipped with state-of-the-art Gulralp seismometers. The Guralp seismometers are broadband, weak-motion triaxial seismometers ideally suited for long-term temporary and permanent installations in areas with low to moderate noise levels.
“The instruments’ broadband response and low self-noise level make them suitable for seismic monitoring at all scales: local, regional and teleseismic. The NGSA stations have been able to record many notable teleseismic events including the recent Philippines’ earthquake which occurred on 2nd December, 2023, the China’s earthquake on 2 January, 2023 and the Japan’s earthquake on the 1st of January 2023.
“Additionally, many localized events have been recorded by the stations including the NGSA stations in Abuja. Though the causes of these localized vibrations and ground motions are yet to be comprehensively determined, their nature as recorded by the seismographs show that they are likely due to rock blasting.
“It is recommended that discreet and subtle investigations be carried out within and around the environment by relevant authorities to help determine and track the cause of these recorded vibrations.”