You own the land, but the mineral belongs to us, FG tells state governors

The Federal government has reminded states governors that while they laid claim to ownership of land in their states, the federal government reserves exclusive rights to exploration and exploitation of mineral resources in the land.

Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Kayode Fayemi Minister gave the indication in Enugu at a town hall meeting with stakeholders and operators in the mining industry on Monday, against the backdrop of increased tension between states governments and the federal government on who controls the right to mining activities.  

“Revenue sharing in the mining sector is still an issue in contention as states feel that they should benefit from mineral God has blessed them with, which is exploited from their land, but I need to remind them that while they own the land, the federal government owns the mineral resources in the land”.

While expressing federal government’s determination to diversify the nation’s sources of revenue by reviving the mine and steel sector, Fayemi said the mining sector has experienced dwindling fortunes in recent time which has led to shortfall in revenue and investors’ confidence.

Fayemi identified some challenges facing the sector to include illegal mining, the proliferation of miners as well as poor and dilapidated infrastructures.

“Majority of miners in Enugu state are doing so illegally as they don’t have a license from the mining and steel development ministry. Many parades illegal receipts and even those who have exploratory licenses are blocking genuine investors in the state as they do not utilise their license” he said.

The minister assured that the federal government will ensure productive mining environment to support small scale miners with financial resources.

Fayemi said funding has been made easier for exploration process as the federal government, multinational institutions, World Bank and African Development bank will be assisting with one hundred and fifty billion dollars.

He further revealed that the ministry has set up implementation strategy team to ensure that the roadmap for the resuscitation of the mining sector is effectively implemented and assured that some of the issues confronting miners such as multiple taxations, environment management; and annual renewable fees will be resolved.