Tag: Dele Alake

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has inaugurated an eight-man fact-finding committee to look into the face-off between the Osun State government and Thor Explorations Limited, owners of the Segilola Resources Operating Limited (SROL) over taxation and operational matters.

The ad-hoc committee was given seven days to submit its findings to the Minister.

The Osun state government, on September 30, sealed the business premises of SROL, following a court order permitting it to confiscate the company for various flagrant tax violations and other operational matters.

The state government had accused the company of unethical business practices, and tax evasion amounting to approximately $1.9 million.

Inaugurating the committee in Abuja on Wednesday, the Minister directed the committee to spring into action immediately to allow the mining firm to continue its work and forestall further economic consequences of the closure of the mining facility.

The committee is to identify the root causes of the disagreement between the two parties, review the contractual obligations and agreements between the parties to determine whether there have been breaches or misunderstandings and assess the socio-economic, environmental, and legal aspects of the operations carried out by the mining firm.

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Alake also directed the committee to evaluate the impact of the company’s operations on the host communities and the wider Osun state economy, propose solutions that will ensure the continuation of mining activities while safeguarding the interests of the state and the affected communities and make any other recommendations that will enable the government to take informed decisions to resolve the lingering dispute between the two parties.

Directing the committee to conduct thorough consultations with the state government, the mining firm, and relevant stakeholders, including local communities, environmental experts, and legal representatives.

The committee was also charged to review all documents, including contracts, agreements, licenses, and reports related to the activities of the mining firm within the state, investigate the company’s compliance with all relevant mining, environmental, and community development laws and policies and analyze the financial, social, and environmental implications of the ongoing mining activities by the firm.

Alake also mandated the committee to review the grievances of the state government and local communities regarding the company’s activities, including any claims of environmental degradation, inadequate corporate social responsibility, or lack of compliance with agreed terms.

The committee headed by the Ministry’s Director of Mining Inspectorate, Engineer Imam Ganiyu has the National President of the Nigerian Associations of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Dele Kelvin Oye as the vice chairman while Stephen Dareng will serve as Secretary.

Other members are Dr. Vivian Okono, Mrs. N.C Odili, representatives of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Federal Ministry of Labour.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has congratulated the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, on his 68th birthday, celebrating their enduring partnership and friendship.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu praised Alake as a trusted ally, buddy, and brother, acknowledging his unwavering support throughout his political journey, from senator to president.

Their collaboration spans over three decades, with Alake providing candid counsel and guidance during challenging times.

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The President attributed Alake’s success to his honesty, passion, tact, determination, and exceptional public relations skills, expressing confidence that he will continue to uphold excellence in service to the nation.

President Tinubu joined family, friends, and well-wishers in offering prayers for Alake’s continued success and well-being.

“President Bola Tinubu congratulates the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, on his 68th birthday.

“President Tinubu celebrates his long-time ally, buddy, brother and  invaluable partner for his support throughout his political journey as Senator, Governor of Lagos State, Presidential candidate and President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“The President says he cherishes working  closely and collaboratively with Alake in more than  three decades.

“The President thanks Alake for his candid counseling and unwavering support, which have provided invaluable guidance during challenging times in public office.

“He notes that Alake’s staying power in the various roles he has handled in his lifetime has been rooted in his honesty,  passion, tact, determination and exceptional public relations.

“President Tinubu is confident that the Minister will continue to uphold his high standards of excellence in service to the nation.

“He joins family, friends, and well-wishers in offering prayers for Alake’s  continued success and well-being”, the statement said.

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake has declared the forthcoming African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit (AFNIS) 2024 as pivotal for harnessing Africa’s mineral resources to achieve sustainable economic development.

The summit, the third in the series will be held from July 16 to 18, 2024, at the State House Conference Centre, Presidential Villa, Abuja. Alake emphasised that the summit provides a vital platform that unites government officials, private sector stakeholders, and industry experts from across the continent.

According to the Minister, the objective of the summit “is to galvanise a consensus aimed at driving economic growth, achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and fostering the development of cleaner energy.

“This year’s summit, with the theme:  ‘Natural Resources for Economic Development’ underscores the significant role that Africa’s natural resources play in driving economic prosperity. Our focus will be on empowering marginalized communities and strategically utilizing fossil fuel revenues to fund the transition to a greener Africa,” Alake added.

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Organised in partnership with the Core International Mining Company, the summit will bring together African Ministers of Solid Minerals/Mineral Resources and will be the first summit hosted by Nigeria since Alake emerged as the pioneer chairman of the African Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG).

The Minister said: “AFNIS 2024 will set the pace for policy initiatives and regulatory frameworks that will enhance the sustainable exploitation of mineral resources and galvanize concerted action towards value addition—a major policy adopted by the AMSG.”

“Let’s utilise the AFNIS summit to bolster Nigeria’s image and project us as Africa’s leading investment destination. The present administration is working diligently to improve the ease of doing business and address inherent challenges,” the Minister asserted.

The Chief Executive Officer of Core International, Suleiman Zakari, revealed that this year’s summit would include bilateral meetings focusing on value addition to ensure the continent gets maximum value from its vast mineral resources.

…says Nigeria will no longer accept pit of port exploration

Minister for Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, said on Monday, April 29, that the Nigerian government was working to ensure that the country becomes an investor’s destination in the area of solid minerals development.

He also said that communities, where solid minerals are extracted from, must henceforth derive maximum benefit from solid minerals exploration.

The minister spoke at a two-day national stakeholders’ roundtable on sustainable development of the mining industry organised by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies in Abuja.

He said plans to process raw minerals locally will now be part of the conditions for obtaining mining licences in the country, adding that the government will no longer accept what he called pit to port system in the mining sector.

The Minister also said that the Minister has trained and deployed about 2,160 Mining Marines to all states of the federation to help fight the activities of illegal miners.

He said the government was putting in place concrete measures that would shift attention away from fossil fuels to solid minerals as a way of generating revenue for the government.

He said: “The President has given us the mandate to re-organise the sector from exploration to production and processing with the ultimate objective of making it a key contributor to the national economy. Nigeria is prime to become the new global mining destination and together we will make this vision a reality.”

Alake said that conscious of the limitation of time and resources, the Ministry has developed a Seven-Point Agenda, a roadmap for the transformation of the Mining Sector for national prosperity and international competitiveness.

He listed the agenda as the establishment of the National Solid Minerals Corporation, the establishment of the Mining Police, the gathering of comprehensive data on Nigeria’s minerals to de-risk the sector, and aggressive and pro-active promotion of Nigeria’s mineral endowment to attract investors.

Others are combating illegal mining by replacing artisanal mining with cooperative mining, value Addition through industrial processing of extracted minerals and reduction of export of raw minerals, and Human development of mining communities through enforcement of Community Development Agreements.

He said the agenda and its components were adopted by the Federal Executive Council and form the content of the contract between the President and the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development and the deliverables within the framework of the Renewed Hope Agenda.

He disclosed that the Committee on Solid Minerals Development has initiated the enactment of an act of the National Assembly on the Nigerian Solid Minerals Corporation, which will be a private sector-led limited liability company with a clear mandate of engaging in the business of mining across the entire value chain upstream to the downstream.

He said the company is expected to create some of the stability the sector requires and spur other private sector activity by catalyzing investment inflow across the entire sector.

He said the private sector will own 50 percent of the corporation 25 percent by interested Nigerians and 25 percent by the Nigerian government, adding that the intention is to ensure that successive governments do not tinker with the gains in the sector.

He said the idea of a Mining Police to enforce mining laws and combat all illegal mining activities has been realised through the establishment of the Mining Marshals, with about 2,160-man elite paramilitary force drawn from the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps with the support of the Ministry of Interior and trained by the Military

He said the mining police has been deployed to the 36 states with each state getting a 60-man rapid response team on the ground, adding that communities hitherto terrorised by illegal miners in Osun, Kwara and Kogi are being rescued.

The Minister said further that plans for a full-scale, nationwide gathering of exploration data has attracted the interest of global firms including GeoScan of Germany with the Federal Government signing a Memorandum of Understanding with GeoScan.

He said the Ministry is currently maximising networking, engagement and display opportunities at international mining conferences to market the mineral resources drawing to the country several delegations of investors who are setting up companies with the intention to intervene in the mining value chain from upstream to downstream.

He said over the years, the private sector has found the mining environment a tough one to navigate and drive investment into due to governance issues amongst other challenges.

He said: “My objective as your Minister is to work to ensure that Nigeria becomes a mining destination for the first time in its history and we are working to make this happen by alleviating bottlenecks and salient challenges that have plagued the sector over time such as security, licensing problems, unclear community engagement/development frameworks, policy inconsistencies, illegal mining on existing licenses and others. With your support, we are committed to overcoming these challenges and putting Nigeria on the global mining map.

“In the context of our sector, we have a duty to our mining investors, exploration companies, mining companies, processors and other players in the value chain to create and maintain an enabling environment for them to thrive.

“As we can all agree, mining is truly a herculean task and one that needs as much of a stable policy environment as possible to avoid business interruptions. Imagine bringing in millions of dollars of investment to operate a mine in a state only to wake up one morning to hear that mining has been abruptly banned in your state of operation.

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“These are the type of scenarios we need to avoid for our mining players as they send a wrong signal to the global market about our seriousness about making Nigeria a mining destination. It is also counterintuitive to the objectives of Mr. President of diversifying our economy through solid minerals.”

Former Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed said the brainstorming session is aimed at bringing key stakeholders in the mining sector from the private sector, government, and civil society to discuss the current mining landscape in Nigeria and explore potential opportunities for investment facilitation and sectoral development.

Director General of NIPSS, Prof Ayo Omotayo said the roundtable was organised as part of the mandate of the Institute having in mind the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President.

He said: “We must do all we can to take our country to greater heights by ensuring that the critical mining sector contributes its share of a 1 trillion dollar economy in very few years ahead. The question is can we achieve the promise of a trillion-dollar economy if the mining sector performs optimally.”

The minister of solid minerals development, Dele Alake, has said that despite the present economic reality, better days are ahead for the country and Nigerians.

He gave the assurance after an inspection of the $600 million iron ore mining and processing facility owned by African Natural Resources and Mines Limited (ANRML) in Gujeni, Kaduna state.

The minister commended the resilience, foresight, commitment and focus of the company which he likened to the present efforts of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration at restructuring the economy.

He however admonished all Nigerians not only to have faith in the administration but to be persistent, consistent, patient and focused as the restructuring efforts pass through the gestation period for the fruits of the efforts to manifest.

Assuring Nigerians, Alake said: “We have set our minds in this administration and invariably in Nigeria to achieve success and that is why Mr President is restructuring the economy. And like I said when this company (ANRML) started seven years ago, we saw one of the foundations through the video documentary, the amount of concrete that went to erect a foundation, just to carry a giant edifice. That’s what we are going through. When we get through the gestation period, the results will manifest, and it will herald prosperity.

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“The restructuring of the economy of this country is really with its attendant pains but now we are going through the pains, it is the pain that is the precursor to joy at the end of the road. Just as this company went through the pains to erect this solid structure that we have here today smiling and we are rejoicing with it for being courageous enough to set its eyes on the ball and be focused enough to pursue it and we have the result today.”

The Minister then advised, “So, I recommend self-mentality and self-orientation to all of us to be persistent, consistent, patient and focused. When all the restructuring initiates of this government scale through their gestation period, the results will begin to manifest and the whole country will begin to enjoy. I can assure Nigerians that better days are coming.”

The minister then reiterated the administration’s resolve for value addition as the irreducible standard for mining operations in the country.

He warned that the government will no longer license any company that wants to engage in the country’s mineral sector without any concrete plans for local value addition.

He commended the company for aligning with the administration’s vision of value addition and beneficiation through its processing of iron ore, urging other mining companies to take a cue from it. He restated the position of the federal government to refrain from granting mining licenses to companies without requisite plans for value addition.

In her submission, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Doris Azoka-Aniete lauded the company for its giant stride in iron ore production and processing, stressing that the company will be part of the nation’s efforts to scale up local steel manufacturing and local manufacturing of automobiles through the Nigeria Automotive Industry Plan.