‘Nigeria needs to elaborate a comprehensive mining policy that aligns with the African Mining Vision (AMV) to replace the present Nigerian Minerals and Metals Policy 2008 in operation, Research Professor of Law Peter Terkaa Akper has said, adding that the potential of the sector for economic diversification can be realized through the faithful implementation of strategic reforms that are designed to address the needs of the sector.
Akper, who spoke while interrogating the policy challenges of the sector at the 7th Inaugural Lecture of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) recently in Abuja, pointed out that a country’s mining policy signposts the guiding principles and direction for development, adding that there is a need to set clear objectives and strategies for realizing those objectives.
At the lecture, which was chaired by the Director General of NIALS, Professor Mohammed Ladan, Akper, who showcased his research innovations and contribution to knowledge in the area of mining law and policy, noted that “there is a need to have a consultative process to build consensus among key stakeholder groups in Nigeria about how they envision the mining sector,” adding that the emphasis on the AMV is because it emphasizes stakeholder participation.
The renowned Professor of Mining Law and Policy said: “With the myriad of issues in the industry, stakeholders need to deliberate on the future of the mining industry and their respective roles in developing and reforming the sector.”
According to him, the comprehensive mining policy so developed will provide the pathway for identifying the legal, regulatory and institutional reforms to undertake and their sequencing. “It will answer important questions such as the new laws we require, the ones to amend, which institutions to strengthen and the ones to establish,” he said, noting that the policy will also define appropriate roles for the sub-nationals and mining host communities.
Discussing the importance of ensuring a progressive Minerals and Mining Act, he said the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007 has been in operation for 17 years, noting that the operation of the Act has revealed inherent weaknesses that require strengthening to bring it in tandem with current realities.
“Most importantly, the Act needs to be amended to establish an independent sector regulator for the mining sector akin to the regulators established for other economic sectors and specify clear roles for the sub-nationals in the mineral sector governance framework to address the present jurisdictional conflicts between the federal government and the sub-nationals in the governance of the sector.
“Furthermore, the legislation should address the extant challenges in the consent provisions of the Act (s. 100); strengthen the provisions relating to Community Development Agreements (s. 116) with the benefit of the Incorporated Communities Trust under the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, to ensure effective transfer of social and economic benefits of mining investment to the mining host communities; and reform the dispute resolution mechanism to make it more efficient and effective, amongst others.”
Akper called for the restructuring of the institutional framework, saying: “The Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, the main institutional framework for the sector, should be restructured and adequately resourced to effectively discharge its mandate.”
According to him, the “technical departments in the Ministry (Mines Inspectorate, Mines Environmental Compliance and Artisanal and Small Scale Mining) should be excised from the Ministry together with the semi-autonomous Mining Cadastre Office (MCO) to form the nucleus of the Independent Sector Regulator.” This, he said, will enable the ministry to focus on policy formulation, investment promotion, supervision of mining sector parastatals and representation of the country at meetings of international organizations relevant to the sector.
“The independent sector regulator so created should enjoy financial, management and operational independence, empowered to set standards as required of a regulator to sanitize the sector and make it more responsive to the needs of investors and stakeholders in the mining sector.”
Discussing policy efforts that must be in place in the area of geoscience data, Akper prescribed a change in exploration strategy, saying that the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development should prioritize access to geoscience data for investors in the sector.
He encouraged the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) to organize geoscience data to facilitate easy access by investors in the sector.
“Furthermore, the government should adopt the practice of mapping out areas with sufficient geoscience data for bidding by investors to raise funds and recover part of the exploration expenses,” he said, adding that the government should change its exploration strategy from one that focuses on greenfield exploration of the country to brownfield exploration that takes cognizance of the legacy mines that existed before the abandonment of the sector and reopens them to attract investors, as has been done in other jurisdictions.
He explained that poor linkages between the mining sector and other economic sectors have led the mining sector to develop as ‘enclaves’ without proper linkages (vertical and horizontal) to other sectors to enable the country to benefit from its multiplier effect along the entire mineral value chain. He therefore called for the repositioning of the mining industry to stimulate industrialization (resource-based industrialization), where upstream industries that produce heavy machinery used for mining can be encouraged to set up industrial clusters around mines as well as downstream mineral processing facilities (lapidaries, refineries, etc.) that make use of minerals produced as feedstock for their industries. This, he said, will stimulate economic activities, revenue and employment generation needed to grow the economy. “The AMV provides the requisite framework for attaining this objective to ensure inclusive and broad-based development of the mining industry,” he added.
While saying that harnessing the energies and ingenuities of artisanal miners for development is the pathway to development as Nigeria’s geology is generally conducive to artisanal mining operations, he noted that most mineral occurrences may not be large enough to attract large-scale operators. Proffering a policy solution, he said: “The government must evolve a strategy that can effectively harness the energies and ingenuities of artisanal mining for the overall development of the mining sector.”
According to him, artisanal miners, apart from their prospecting ingenuity, are forebears of large-scale mines. “They often discover mineral occurrences that attract the attention of large scale operators,” he said, adding that the government needs to give sufficient attention to artisanal miners by making provisions for their co-existence with large-scale operators under conditions that allow them to thrive.
“One sure step to the realization of this objective is to provide for an artisanal mining license or permit in the mineral rights regime and a district licensing system that will bring the licensing process closer to the people at the grassroots.” He said other viable initiatives include simplifying the registration process and facilitating the development of a mining finance ecosystem.
Akper, who is the Co-Thematic Lead of the Mining Thematic Group of the Mining and Manufacturing Policy Commission (MMPC) of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, discussed policy solutions to the security challenges in the mining sector, saying: “The government should adopt measures to effectively tackle the security challenges in the country in general and particularly around mining communities in Nigeria. This will create an enabling environment for mining activities to thrive in the country, in addition to making the country a destination of choice for investors in the mining sector. The effective tackling of the security challenge will further de-risk the sector and attract ancillary investment opportunities for mining host communities, with a salutary effect on the economy.”
