By John Okeke
The Federal Government through the Ministry of Solid Minerals, have warned illegal miners to desist from their economic sabotaging activities and have revoked 1,633 licenses of defaulters.
It noted that the decisions were noble goals of the present administration to sanitize the Minerals sector and position the industry for international competitiveness.
Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Oladele Alake, while addressing the press said it was indeed very unreasonable for corporate bodies making huge profits from mining to refuse to give the Government what is due by failing to pay their annual service fee.
Citing section 11 and 12 of the NMMA Act of 2007 which state that (A mineral title shall become liable to revocation where the holder therefore has failed to pay the prescribed fees)
He further stated that “In compliance with the law, the MCO on October 4, 2023 began the process of revoking 2,213 titles, which include 795 Exploration titles, 956 Small Scale Mining Licenses, 364 Quarry licenses and 98 Mining Leases.
“These were published in the Federal Government Gazette Number 178, Volume 110 of October 10, 2023 with the notice of revocation for defaulting in the payment of Annual Service Fee.
“The mandatory 30 days expired on November 10, 2023. Only 580 title holders responded by settling their indebtedness. With this development, the MCO recommended the revocation of 1, 633 mineral titles as follows: Exploration License, 536; Quarry License, 279; Small Scale Mining License, 787 and Mining Lease, 31.
“In line with the powers conferred on me by the NMMA 2007, Section 5 (a), I have approved the revocation of the 1,633 titles. I hereby warn the previous holders of these titles to leave the relevant cadaster with immediate effect as security agencies shall work with the Mines Inspectorate of the Ministry to apprehend any defaulter found on any of the areas where titles have been revoked.”
He said that it was indeed a reasonable conjecture that such a company will even be more unwilling to pay royalties and honor its tax obligations to the Government adding that the amount the companies were being asked to pay is peanuts compared to their own revenue projections.
He said that the solidarity of the Nigerian Press and the Nigerian Public on solid minerals matters has led to the national resolve which has injected fresh vigor to its stamina and preparedness to execute reforms with impactful alacrity and unity of purpose.
Explaining the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007 and the Administration of Mineral Titles, the Minister explained that every sector requires a governance system that regulates the conduct of its participants, the procedures for entry and exit, the obligations of the Government to participants and the penalties for non-compliance.
The Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr. Mrs Mary Ogbe said all hands must be on desk to achieve the Nigeria of our dream, she said we can’t do things the same way and expect a different result.
She urged the media to amplify and possibly translate this message in other Nigerian languages, emphasizing that mining is the next crude in Nigeria.
