Dele Alake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nPowerful citizens are behind illegal mining in Nigeria, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has posited. Dele Alake<\/p>\n
Alake disclosed on Tuesday when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Solid Minerals to defend the ministry\u2019s 2024 budget proposal.<\/p>\n
He further accused those behind illegal mining of sponsoring banditry.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne pernicious discovery that we have made is that a lot of these banditry, terrorism, and insecurity that we associate with this sector are actually sponsored by illegal miners.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are not your artisanal miners. They are not the people who pick gold on the ground. These are heavy and powerful individuals in our country. And they are Nigerians. They are not foreigners.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, you can see foreigners as symptoms, but they are not the disease. Nigerians are the powers behind those foreigners that you see on the streets. We are identifying them and employing various strategies, both kinetic and non-kinetic,\u201d Alake said.<\/p>\n
As part of his seven-point agenda, Alake added that he gave an ultimatum to petty illegal miners to join cooperatives and be registered to be recognised by the government.<\/p>\n
The essence of demanding the illegal miners to register with cooperatives and be formalised, he noted is to ensure they \u201cdo their businesses legitimately and earn a legitimate living.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause every Nigerian has a right to life and necessities and so if the government cannot provide these necessities, we cannot push them into the bush,\u201d Alake added.<\/p>\n
Alake said when the illegal miners are registered, the government can identify them and derive the necessary royalties and taxes.<\/p>\n
The minister said the royalties and taxes were lost because the government could not be chasing individual miners all over the place.<\/p>\n
He said over 50 cooperative societies have been formed since the policy was announced, adding that more people are still registering.<\/p>\n
READ ALSO: Dele Alake Threatens Crack Down On Illegal Miners, Gives 30-Day Ultimatum<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cWe strive to legitimise them and make them responsible citizens of Nigeria,\u201d Alake said.<\/p>\n
According to him, the N24 billion allocated to the ministry by the budget office is insufficient.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact the figure we were given cannot even engage in one single item on our agenda. The entire budget of about N24 billion is a non-starter if we are to achieve the stated objective of this sector,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The minister said N250 billion alone is required for the exploration of solid minerals.<\/p>\n
He stressed that the ministry cannot give investors the power of exploration because they would shortchange the government.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need a lot of funding in exploration to generate geoscientific data. We cannot leave the business of exploration in the hands of the private sector,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we are to be serious about the economy diversification vision and policy of this government, we need nothing less than N250 billion for exploration alone. It is critical. I crave your support in our effort to actualize this particular measure.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Minister sought the support of the committee for increased funding to meet the objectives of the ministry.<\/p>\n
\u201cI seek your support to help us to inject substantial funds into the exploration so that we can return revenue in trillions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI stake my credibility on it. If we are given that amount of money, I can tell you the target that this sector will contribute to the GDP of this country will be outstanding. In a couple of years, it will dwarf what we are deriving from oil.\u201d<\/p>\n
Suggesting ways to curb insecurity in the mining sector, Alake canvassed for the creation of mining corporations, and the establishment of mines police.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it is not just mine police that we are looking at. It is not just in mine alone. There are other sectors of the economy that is going to have specified police like the blue economy you can have the marine police.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut in our case, the relevance is to further combat insecurity and ensure that the site where operators would engage in their activities would remain peaceful at all times,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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Dele Alake Powerful citizens are behind illegal mining in Nigeria, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has posited. Dele Alake Alake disclosed on Tuesday when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Solid Minerals to defend the ministry\u2019s 2024 budget proposal. He further accused those behind illegal mining of sponsoring banditry. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":129003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nigeria-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
Powerful Nigerians Using Illegal Mining Funds To Sponsor Terrorism \u2014 Dele Alake - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/13\/powerful-nigerians-using-illegal-mining-funds-to-sponsor-terrorism-dele-alake\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Powerful Nigerians Using Illegal Mining Funds To Sponsor Terrorism \u2014 Dele Alake - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dele Alake Powerful citizens are behind illegal mining in Nigeria, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has posited. Dele Alake Alake disclosed on Tuesday when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Solid Minerals to defend the ministry\u2019s 2024 budget proposal. 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