By Fatima Saka
The Federal Government Nigeria has revealed that the Kano Gold Souk and other regional projects will become operational by 2023.
Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, made over the weekend in Abuja. Saying the souk would make the country become a world destination for gold.
Speaking of, the minister said the ministry have trained people who will make jewelry, they will be resident in that gold souk.
“In Kano, our gold is being taken out of Nigeria to places like Dubai and others where they turn them into jewelry.
“You buy them at expensive prices there but when that gold leaves Nigeria in their raw form, they pay next to nothing for it.
“So, we said let’s have a gold souk in Kano which can rival any souk in the world.
“They will turn the gold in Nigeria into jewelry. They can make bangles, straps, earrings, necklaces, and pendants.
“People are trained to do this now, so we are adding value in Nigeria and we are saying that Kano Gold souk can join the world calendar of souks.
“This will enable people to know that at a certain time of the year, we will organize a gold festival in Kano gold souk so that women and men from all over the world can come to Kano and buy gold.
“That is why we have done all these six regional projects and those projects are at advanced stages of completion.
`We should be commissioning them very soon. We will look at suitable dates to inaugurate these projects early in the New Year,’’ he stated.