Anambra Bans Unlicensed  Mining Operators

The Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano has announced the immediate suspension of all activities of unlicensed mining and extraction of solid minerals deposits in all parts of the State.

He issued the directive yesterday when he received a delegation from the headquarters of the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, at the Governor’s Lodge, Awka.

The team which was working simultaneously alongside their other counterparts  for other geo-political zones that were on a nationwide monitoring tour of revenues and mining activities in states of the Federation was touring the South East.

They were also to sensitize governments on the dangers of not diversifying the economy as well as to liaise with the governments to streamline activities in the Mining Industry. 

Obiano noted that his administration was committed to tightening up all loose ends in the revenue collection processes in the state to ensure that monies accruable to government come in. Also directing all licenced Miners to work with the State’s Ministry of Science and Technology to ensure proper documentation and monitoring of their activities.

He called on the Federal Government to immediately overhaul the process of issueing licences to Miners to actively involve state governments, noting that while his government remained committed to exploring the abundant solid mineral deposits in the State for the benefit of her people, it was equally necessary to streamline activities in the subsector to ensure that such mining activities do not contribute further to the erosion challenges already facing the state and that all key players were effectively carried along. 

The governor also urged the Federal government to show more commitment towards research and geo-physical studies aimed at identifying solid minerals in the country and expressed confidence that the exercise would help throw the spotlight on the rich gas deposit in the state and the potential it holds for power generation. 

The leader of the delegation, Dr Casimir Anyanwu had explained that the exercise became imperative because of the dwindling fortunes of the country’s mono-product, hydrocarbon, and the need for state governments to look in the direction of solid minerals as a viable option for sustaining the country’s economy, adding that over forty viable mineral resources have been identified to exist across the 774 Local Government Areas of the country. 

Dr Anyanwu regretted that there is little or no cooperation between government’s regulatory agencies at various levels and other players in the Mining Sub-sector. He therefore harped on the need for government to galvanise illegal miners to boost their enterprise and be able to contribute significantly towards increasing governments’ revenue. 

The state’s Commissioner for Science and Technology, Dr Chinedu Emeka identified a major challenge facing the Mining subsector in the State as the manner in which the Federal Ministry of Mines and Industry authorized the independent miners to operate independent of the state government and expressed the hope that this visit would help bring the state fully into the picture and to ensure that communities whose lands were destroyed during mining were properly renumerated and government gets its accruable revenue.

The meeting also witnessed discussions on how the Federal Government and Anambra State Government could synergize towards diversifying the nation’s economy,  during which the delegation applauded Governor Obiano for his administration’s landmark achievements in rice production and other food belts.

For Diaspora Digital Media Updates click on Whatsapp, or Telegram. For eyewitness accounts/ reports/ articles, write to: citizenreports@diasporadigitalmedia.com. Follow us on X (Fomerly Twitter) or Facebook