Fayemi Wants States Control Mineral Resources
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has canvassed for an urgent review of the country's laws to allow states play more prominent roles in mining issues as a necessary step in making the minerals and mining sector more profitable.
The minister stated this in a keynote address at the fifth annual lecture of the School of Management Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), on Friday.
Dr. Fayemi, in the lecture titled: 'Mineral Resource Management for National Cohesion and Progress', said the present situation where state governments were not adequately involved in the administration of mineral titles despite bearing the brunt of impact of resource exploitation grossly affected growth of the sector.
He said the country needed to take a cue from her experience in the oil-rich Niger Delta, where oil riches, rather than cementing national cohesion, became a source of discord and a toxic bone of contention in the polity and where decades of oil exploitation had resulted in a legacy of ecological degradation, trans-generational poverty and violence.
Although the minister said the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development had put in place some administrative measures to involve the states and ensure they took advantage of the resources in their domains, he maintained that a review of the laws giving the Federal Government exclusive rights over mining must be effected in order for states to play more prominent roles.
Dr. Fayemi, however, assured that President Muhammadu Buhari's administration had the political will and the preparedness to do what was necessary in this regard.
The minister also said government needed to create about two million jobs annually in the next decade in order to effectively tackle the menace of unemployment among its teeming youths.
"About 70 per cent of Nigeria's population is under 35 years of age. Unemployment level is high, in some cases approaching 30 to 50 per cent in certain age and education categories. It is critical that we create two million jobs per annum to help absorb such manpower over the coming decade; mining can be an important part of the solution.
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has canvassed for an urgent review of the country's laws to allow states play more prominent roles in mining issues as a necessary step in making the minerals and mining sector more profitable.
Although the minister said the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development had put in place some administrative measures to involve the states and ensure they took advantage of the resources in their domains, he maintained that a review of the laws giving the Federal Government exclusive rights over mining must be effected in order for states to play more prominent roles.
Dr. Fayemi, however, assured that President Muhammadu Buhari's administration had the political will and the preparedness to do what was necessary in this regard.
The minister also said government needed to create about two million jobs annually in the next decade in order to effectively tackle the menace of unemployment among its teeming youths.
"About 70 per cent of Nigeria's population is under 35 years of age. Unemployment level is high, in some cases approaching 30 to 50 per cent in certain age and education categories. It is critical that we create two million jobs per annum to help absorb such manpower over the coming decade; mining can be an important part of the solution.
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