By Grace Ademulegun
Former Delta State gubernatorial candidate and a Peoples Democratic Party stalwart, Chief Sunny Onuesoke, has urged the federal government to take immediate action to address the growing problem of illegal mining in Northern Nigeria.
Speaking at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos, recently Onuesoke underlined that Nigeria’s economy, security, and sustainable development are all seriously threatened by illegal mining.
Onuesoke emphasised the serious economic consequences of illegal mining, saying that it causes socio economic instability and costs the country important money.
He expressed concern that while government is making attempts to check illegal mining, such activities become more widespread, especially when it comes to significant resources like gold, uranium, and other minerals in the northern area.
By drawing a comparison between the government’s forbearance towards illegal mining in the North and its crackdown on crude oil theft in the Niger Delta, the PDP chieftain highlighted the differences in the way the government manages its resources.
“Illegal mining operations in the North appear to go unchecked, while illicit oil refiners in the Niger Delta are apprehended and their facilities demolished,” he noted, querying, “As with refineries in the Niger Delta, why hasn’t the government set fire to illicit mining operations in the North?”
Onuesoke frowned at the wide revenue data disparity between the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), which showed that the solid minerals and oil industries.
The oil and gas industry made $394 billion in a decade, but the solid minerals industry made only $1.4 billion over 13 years, he illustrated.
According to Onuesoke, this disparity highlights the undervaluation of solid minerals, which might greatly strengthen the nation’s economy with appropriate management.
Because local organisations do roughly 80 percent of the mining in the region illegally, the PDP stalwart also connected illicit mining to the escalating banditry situation in northern Nigeria.
He clarified that these operations have extended over states including Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, and Plateau, intensifying violence and tensions within communities.
“Illegal mining continues with disastrous results, even after the government outlawed artisanal mining and sent security personnel in. Conflicts provoked by these actions have claimed scores of lives over the past five years,” he said.
Onuesoke went on to address recent claims by Senator Adams Oshiomhole that former military generals are involved in illicit mining.
In addition to stepping up its efforts to combat illicit mining, he urged the federal government to make sure that all perpetrators, regardless of their position or power, are held accountable.
He urged the government to prioritise solid minerals just as much as it does oil in order to promote a more balanced approach to resource management.
