The Nigerian Miners Association, Bauchi State Chapter, has expressed willingness to partner with the federal government through the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development and to collaborate with the state government to eliminate illegal mining and loss of revenue in the state.
The Chairman of the association Alhaji Musa Santuraki Pali stated this when state officials of the association interacted with newsmen in Bauchi.
He said there is a pressing need for collaboration between the Ministry and Bauchi State government to curtail incidences of illegal mining in the state, which has become an endemic economic crime causing haemorrhage to government’s revenue.
This is beside its attendant security problems and festering dangers suffered by illegal miners in the areas endowed with mineral resources which sometimes led to loss of lives.
Santuraki sought robust dialogue between the ministry and Bauchi State government, so as to enhance and sustain its effort to eliminate the activities of illegal miners within the ambit of the law and to help both federal and state to get royalties from the miners.
He said “recently we lost four miners in Ningi local government when they were digging.inside a hole.”
The chairman said “when the land collapsed on them they died. We commiserated with them, assisted their families, but there is nothing we can do since they have been operating illegally.”
While lauding the actions of the state government by creating ministry of solid minerals he advised Governor Bala Mohammed to lend necessary assistance to legal miners in the state to encourage investor’s confidence.
Santuraki urged the Federal Ministry of Mines Solid Minerals and Steel Development, with the new Ministry of Solid Minerals to open a corridor of communication and effective collaboration between the state licenced miners with state government, that will process and authenticate licences issued by the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development to investors as well as other documentations for exploration of mineral resources.
“This measure would create an enabling environment for attracting genuine investors into the state to achieve the much desired socio-economic transformation of the country,”
State Secretary of the Association Alhaji Abubakar Inuwa Labaran and the Coordinator of the miners association Ningi Local Government Area Zahradden Bala Dan Madami, stressed the need for sensitisation of all licenced and illegal miners on the importance following due process.
They said, “According to the system of laws that are in the hands of the Federal Government, if anyone wants to enter the business, what he should do from the beginning, there is an office for the minerals resources in every state, whose job is to confirm the place where you will work and give you complete documents, and give you permit and the license to do this work.
“The license is for five years, but there is a major license that reaches 20 years, there are large, small and medium,one can obtain the one he can afford”
