Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The inability of states to issue mining licenses to investors have been identified as one of the major issues inhibiting effective functioning of the mining industry.
Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai stated this on Tuesday at the ongoing Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja.
According to him, many states in the country cannot pay salaries without taking federal allocations, as such making them redundant and close to realizing the relevance of exploring different sectors of revenue generation.
Speaking on the mining and mineral sector of the economy, El-Rufai stated that: “Many state governors are empowered through the land use act to allocate land to investors and miners, however, the issuance of license remains solely with the federal government through the federal ministry of mines and steel development.
“It is not appropriate and that is one of the major reasons why the mining sector hasn’t taken off.
El-Rufai added that if Nigeria must explore key sectors of the economy and generate revenue, there should be concerted effort to ensure that states control key resources and explore different ways of making revenue.
Nigeria’s mining sector has been projected to have huge potentials in terms of GDP contributions.
However, little have been seen from the sector as the country largely depends on proceeds from the oil and gas sector.
As Nigeria has slipped into another recession, stakeholders have called on government to explore the mining sector and other sectors to facilitate economic recovery.
