Dele Alake: FG Set to Revoke Mining Licenses in 2024

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Dele Henry Alake, who is also the Chairman of the Committee on the Implementation of the End of Year Transportation Subsidy Programme as appointed by Bola Ahmed Tinubu, expressed in a speech in Lagos, that in 2024, the Federal Government of Nigeria is set to revoke mining licenses to defaulters who in 2023 failed to remit the annual service fees of N1,500 per cadastral unit for  1,633 mineral licenses.

Dele Alake made it known in his speech that the federal government is prioritizing value addition to prospective investors in the mining sector in 2024; he, however, further emphasized that the era of carting away Nigeria’s resources is over.

Meanwhile, Nigeria is home to numerous solid and mineral resources, but there’s a gap in practical ways and means to develop these raw materials into finished products or add any substantial value to the host communities whose resources are victims of cart away.

The Federal Government, however, in past administrations, is known to set up government agencies, such as the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), in collaboration with government and stakeholders across mining sectors to tackle the challenges of transparency and accountability in the management of Nigeria’s oil, gas, and mining revenues. Yet issues of remittances remain pertinent.

Alake, however, assures Nigerians that the Federal Government is set to revitalize the sector in 2024 into an efficient governance structure that would transform the opaque nature of the mining sector, especially on plans to tackle the menace of insecurity in mining areas alongside the activities of illegal miners.

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Mayowa Durosinmi

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M. Durosinmi is a West Africa Weekly investigative reporter covering Politics, Human Rights, Health, and Security in West Africa and the Sahel Region

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