Abuja: The Federal Executive Council (FEC), at its third meeting of the year on Monday, approved the procurement of a N2.5 billion satellite gadget to combat illegal mining in the country. Mr Dele Alake, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, said this while briefing State House Correspondents, after the FEC meeting. He said the technology was an integrated solution framework to combat unlicensed, unregulated, underreported mining activities.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the deployment of the technology would curb activities that had led to revenue leakages, illegal operations, and illegal extraction and exploitation of the country’s minerals. ‘We are procuring satellite equipment, satellite gadgets that will be installed in strategic places all over the country that would enable us to have visual effect, real time of the operations that are ongoing in sites all over the country,’ said the Minister. He added that there would be a centre like a screen in the operation centre, the mines martial centre, and in his office as well. ‘At a glance, at the click of a button, you can surf any mine site and see the operations there; the volume of the mineral extracted, the number of trucks going out, and, of course, the security situation in the environment,’ he explained.
Alake further mentioned that his ministry introduced the technology in addition to a two-prong strategy to combat illegal mining. On assumption of duty, the ministry adopted persuasive and coercive strategies. The persuasive strategy entailed appealing to the sense of responsibility of artisanal miners to form cooperatives. ‘When they form cooperatives, they become structured, formalised and legalised, and their operation can now add some value to the nation,’ he stated. By forming cooperatives, miners become bankable and can access financial institutions to procure loans to expand their businesses, thereby fulfilling their obligations to the Nigerian state.
Alake highlighted that the ministry had successfully persuaded illegal and artisanal miners to form over 300 cooperative societies. For those who were recalcitrant and failed to yield to the persuasive method, the ministry employed a coercive strategy. ‘We used the coercive measure, and that is epitomised by the Mining Marshalls that we established. To date, we have arrested apprehended, prosecuted, and convicted illegal operators, including foreigners,’ he concluded.
