Business
FG Tasks States On Mineral Resources
The Ministry of Mines and Steel Development has urged the seven states that are yet to resuscitate the Mineral Resources and Environmental Management Committee (MIREMCO) to do so without further delay.
The Minister of State Mines and steel, Alhaji Abubakar Buhari made the call at a retreat on Mining Governance for Chairmen of MIREMCO” in Abuja yesterday.
According to him, it has become imperative to resuscitate the committees in view of its importance to the development of the sector.
Bwari, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mrs Georgina Ekeoma, said the seven affected states include, Abia, Bayelsa, Borno, Gombe, Katsina, Lagos and Taraba states.
According to him, the affected states will not be able to benefit from some intervention funds from the ministry except MIREMCO becomes operational in their domains.
MIREMCO was established by section 19 of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007, as a statutory mechanism to create synergy between the federal, state and local governments.
MIREMCO is saddled with the responsibility of ensuring sustainable development of solid minerals resources in the country and to operate in the 36 states of the Federation as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
MIREMCO chairmen were inaugurated in 2008 in all the states and the FCT but were not active due to logistics to perform their statutory obligations.
Bwari said that 30 MIREMCO states including FCT were resuscitated in 2017 from their dormant status, while seven states were yet to be resuscitated.
He said that 26 out of the 30 states had received N5 million mobilisation funds each, while 10 states had also received hillux vehicles for smooth operations.
“It is heartwarming to point out that some MIREMCO chairmen in some states performed creditably in conflicts resolution between the mineral title holders and their host communities.’’
He said the 30 MIREMCO states had contributed to the slight boost in mineral production and revenue generation of the sector.
Bwari urged the chairmen to brainstorm and proffer recommendations to ensure sustainable mineral resources development and ways to increase the mining Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 0.3 per cent to three per cent by 2025.
Ekeoma, represented by the Director, Mines Environmental Compliance, Mr Sallim Salaam, said the retreat was designed to enlighten the chairmen on mining governance.
She said the forum would enable the chairmen to interact and be inducted on the mandate of the ministry to enable them contribute their quota to the growth of the sector.
The Permanent Secretary charged the committees to monitor illegal exportation of mineral resources from their states.
She urged the chairmen to also conduct their activities with a view to generating revenue into the government account and also address multiple taxes being leveled on miners in their jurisdictions.
the Chairman, MIREMCO in Edo, Mr Daniel Innah, who spoke on behalf of other chairmen urged the ministry to provide all MIREMCO states with adequate funds to perform their operations as expected.
Innah also charged the ministry to establish vibrant public affairs departments for MIREMCO to enable them disseminate their activities on regular basis.
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