The Chairman Senate Committee on Solid Minerals Development, Senator Ekong Sampson, has disclosed that the 10th Senate will closely monitor to ensure the judicious use of the N1 trillion earmarked for the revival and boost of the solid minerals’ sector in the 2025 budget, during an oversight to Mining Sites in Jos, Plateau State.
Sampson, represented by Senator Mustapha Khabeeb, at the Palace of the Gbong Gwom Jos, Da Jacob Gyang Buba, during a courtesy call on the traditional ruler, expressed the determination of the 10th Senate to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration’s drive to revitalize the solid minerals sector in Nigeria to boost economic development.
He called on traditional rulers to check the activities of unlicensed miners who have been exploiting the sector at the expense of licensed operators. The Gbong Gwom Jos, Da Jacob Gyang Buba, told the committee that insecurity has continued to grow due to illegal mining activities.
Buba revealed that young Nigerians in the state were being killed in the mining pits while institutions and other residential buildings were being threatened due to devastating mining activities.
The traditional ruler noted sadly that the hike in foodstuffs in the state was a result of increasing illegal mining activities, and pointed out that the decline in school enrollment in the state was also due to mining activities.
The royal father revealed that it was the reason; the Plateau State Government activated Executive Order 001, which has temporarily suspended mining activities in the state, but some persons haven’t stopped mining, in spite of the order.
The Gbong Gwom Jos called on the Senate Committee to insist that the Minister of Solid Minerals Development do the needful in regulating mining activities in Nigeria.
Also, the Chairman, Mining Association of Nigeria, Plateau State Chapter, Musa Paul Gindiri, urged the Nigerian Senate to prevail on the federal government to relinquish powers of mining activities to state governments.
He also suggested the removal of mining from the exclusive list of the federal government for flexibility.