THE BANE OF ILLEGAL MINING
The authorities could do more to significantly reduce incidence of illegal mining.
The recent arrest in Kwara State by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) operatives of a Chinese national for alleged illegal mining has brought to fore a problem that remains potent to our economy and national security.The male suspect, 29, was caught in possession of crude minerals without authority. A truck load of minerals, suspected to be lepidolite, sometimes called the “peace stone” was recovered from him, according to a statement by EFCC. The arrest validates the 2018 Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) solid mineral sector report which highlighted the prevalence of illegal mining activities in the country. The comprehensive audit explained that except for isolated cases of registered cooperative societies, the sector is largely challenged by illegal miners.
Principally, Nigeria’s solid minerals sector is private sector driven. Through a cadastre like system, the government allocates mineral titles to investors and subsequently provides oversight functions through policy direction and regulations. The country’s law in the sector also specifies who could be in possession of or purchase minerals in Nigeria and establishes Minerals Buying Centre (MBC) which according to NEITI are currently 103 across the country. But from Osun to Zamfara and elsewhere, illegal mining is now the name of the game though this has a long Pan-African background and Nigeria must learn lessons from other countries.
In the mid-1960s, Senegalese and Malian small-scale miners were arrested on the Congo-Uganda border with coffins accompanied by wailing women. The coffins were said to be carrying dead bodies for burial among relatives. These ‘dead bodies’ crossing the border were however wraps containing diamond and other precious metals. In the Central African Republic, Seleka militants were reportedly receiving AK47 guns from Indian traders in exchange for diamonds and uranium dug from locations in which village communities had been slaughtered and dispersed. Similar accusations have been made against Rwandan and Ugandan military officers landing helicopters in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following their defeat by Zimbabwean, Angolan and Namibian troops defending the independence of post-Laurent Kabila’s DRC.
A recent report commissioned by Global Rights blamed the federal government for the challenge in the mining sector. Lead researcher, Nana Nwachukwu listed factors promoting illegal mining activities in the country to include poverty, high cost and cumbersome criteria required for formalising operation, and the lucrative nature of the illicit business. While artisanal mining makes up about 80 per cent of all mining activities in Nigeria, that aspect of the sector is not properly defined. “There is a lot of confusion in the industry about what is illegal mining, unregulated mining and informal mining. Those are terms that have come up overtime and it is really about what level of responsibility the government is willing to take for itself,” said Global Rights executive director, Abiodun Baiyewu.
The spate of illegal mining activities in several states, especially in the northern part of the country has already thrown up security challenges, with widespread cases of armed banditry, kidnapping and community unrest. No reasonable country should allow such brazen challenge of its territorial authorities. But we must also acknowledge some of the reforms initiated by the current administration. These include improving mobility for field officers and organising artisanal miners into cooperatives, etc.
The challenge of the moment is how to sustain these efforts and improve on them to significantly reduce the incidence of illegal mining in the country. There should also be more focus on how to properly organise the sector to attract local and foreign investors. This will help to ensure proper value-addition, rather than just exporting the raw minerals. Experience from the oil and gas sector should provide a useful guide.
