The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has sounded the alarm on Nigeria’s failing solid minerals sector, urging sweeping reforms to unlock billions of dollars in revenue, jobs and sustainable development.
Presenting its latest audit findings in Abuja on Friday, NEITI disclosed that the sector earned just N401.87bn in 2023, contributing a meagre 0.83 per cent of Gross Domestic Product, despite the country’s vast deposits of lithium, cobalt, gold and other minerals critical to the global energy transition.
For decades, Nigeria’s solid minerals industry has been hampered by weak laws, outdated governance, illegal mining, smuggling and neglected host communities, even as demand for green-energy minerals soars worldwide.
“The time for lamentation is over. If we fail to act boldly and immediately, others will transform their mineral wealth into prosperity while Nigeria watches,” warned NEITI’s Executive Secretary, Dr Orji Orji.
He disclosed this in a statement signed by the Director, Communications & Stakeholders Management, Obiageli Onuorah, on Friday in Abuja.
NEITI’s reform blueprint calls on the Federal Government and the National Assembly to pass a new Solid Minerals Reform Act within the next 12 months. The body also recommended the establishment of a National Minerals Development Council, chaired by the Presidency, to drive high-level policy coordination.
Other key proposals include, “a real-time mining cadastre portal for transparent digital licensing, Legal recognition of free, Prior and Informed Consent for host communities, stronger funding for the Solid Minerals Development Fund to finance roads, schools and hospitals.
“Use of technology to combat smuggling and illegal mining, local processing and value addition to retain wealth and create jobs, Mandatory gender and youth inclusion across the value chain.”
Dr Orji stressed that Nigeria’s mineral resources could rival oil in value if properly harnessed, especially as the world shifts towards clean energy technologies that rely heavily on lithium, cobalt and rare earth metals.
“NEITI’s reports will no longer sit on shelves. They will be powerful tools to hold both government and companies accountable and to drive real change,” he pledged.
NEITI further promised to serve as the accountability anchor of the reforms, using independent audits and multi-stakeholder monitoring to track revenues and ensure that host communities benefit.
Nigeria’s solid minerals sector, long described as a “sleeping giant”, has been a recurring theme in policy circles. Successive governments have promised diversification from oil dependence, but progress has remained slow. NEITI’s intervention is one of the clearest calls yet for urgent legislative and institutional reforms to reposition the sector as a pillar of the economy.
