The Federal Government said the country lost about $9 billion to the activities of illegal miners between 2014 and 2015.
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Kayode Fayemi, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held in the conference room of the Office of the First Lady in the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday.
The meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari approved N987 million for the purchase of 50 Toyota Hilux vehicles at the cost of about N19 million each for use in monitoring and curbing of illegal mining in 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Fayemi pointed out that the $9 billion loss in the illegal mining sector was contained in a recent report by the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
He said the loss was recorded mainly from the illegal export of gold, lead, tin, and coal.
According to him, the approval for the purchase of vehicles was because of fact that the deployment of one vehicle per state could not make a significant impact in the monitoring of illegal mining activities.
He also maintained a significant part of the increase in the Gross Domestic Product growth (GDP) in the third quarter of 2017 is attributable to the contribution of agriculture and industry.
He added that the council also approved the constitution of Special Mining Surveillance Task Force with the mandate to monitor and curb illegal mining across the country.
The Task Force he said will be made up security personnel deployed from all security agencies including the Nigeria Police, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Department of State Services (DSS), National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the office of National Security Adviser.
He assured that if illegal mining can be controlled, it will make significant contribution to the GDP, government royalty and job creation for the teeming populace
He said the ultimate goal is to deploy technology to monitor illegal mining in the country.
The minister also said the council considered a memo to formalize small-scale mining and artisan’s mining.
Also speaking, Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, said the council also approved N606.31 million for the payment of the contractor who executed an irrigation project in the FCT.
He said the Ajara-Jere irrigation project which was completed since 2008, was meant to supply water in the FCT from Gurara Dam to lower Usman Dam over a distance of 75 kilometres with three metres diameter pipelines.
Similarly, he said the N606 million approved by FEC would enable the government to pay off the contractor and take over the management of the project by both the personnel of ministry and FCT.
The Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Dr Okechukwu Enelamah, who also briefed the press said he updated the council on the activities of Presidential Enabling Business Environment Committee (PEBEC) following the recent movement of the country 24 places upward in World Bank doing business report.
He added that the council was updated on second National Action Plan which he said would involve the mobilization of ministries, department and agencies (MDAs) the need to do more and achieve greater success in ease of doing business in Nigeria.
Tribune
