3 weeks ago
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The House of Representatives has vowed to extremity the $9 cardinal mislaid annually to illicit mining activities successful the country.
The Green Chamber committed to this during the inauguration of an Ad Hoc Committee connected Illegal Mining.
The committee’s chairman, Hon. Sanni Abdulraheem said amerciable mining was a scourge that undermined nationalist revenue, fuels criminality, and degrades the environment.
“It is estimated that Nigeria loses astir $9 cardinal annually owed to amerciable mining activities. This theft of our resources that should beryllium enriching our federation has gone connected for acold excessively long, and it is clip to enactment an extremity to it”, helium said.
Abdulraheem said the committee is tasked with blocking gross leakages, enforcing transparency, and ensuring that the nation’s mineral wealthiness contributes afloat to economical development.
The lawmaker assured that each Nigeria generated from the country’s affluent earthy resources contributes to the nation’s economical prosperity.
“As we determination forward, 1 of the halfway objectives of this Committee is to artifact the gross leakages caused by amerciable mining and its associated activities, which not lone bargain from our nationalist treasury but besides hinder the maturation of morganatic mining operations that could lend substantially to our nationalist Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
“Through structured oversight, we volition fortify Revenue Tracking Mechanisms and guarantee that the afloat benefits of Nigeria’s mining assemblage travel straight into authorities coffers, alternatively than being siphoned disconnected done amerciable mining activities.
“Equally important is the contented of criminality and biology degradation linked to amerciable mining. These activities not lone substance insecurity, but they besides pb to the contamination of our waterways, the degradation of our forests, and the displacement of susceptible communities. This is simply a substance of nationalist urgency,to tackle these issues head-on. And it is wherefore we are present today,” helium added.
Stressing that the little enclosure would permission nary chromatic unturned, Abdulraheem said the committee stands firmly connected the law mandate entrusted to it by Nigerians.
“We are committed to fulfilling our oversight work arsenic enshrined successful the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to exposure corruption successful immoderate form, curb malpractices, and guarantee that our resources are utilized for the payment of each Nigerians.
“It is done specified diligent oversight that we volition escaped our federation of the crab of amerciable mining, safeguard the environment, and support the wellbeing of our citizens. Through the powers granted to us, we volition investigate, stitchery evidence, and suggest actionable solutions that volition reconstruct sanity and accountability to Nigeria’s mining sector”, helium added.
Speaking connected the Ajaokuta Steel Company, helium assured Nigerians that the President Bola Tinubu medication had shown unprecedented governmental volition to rejuvenate the captious nationalist asset.
He expressed interest that for years, the captious concern plus has been underutilized, leaving the state to ticker portion different nations capitalize connected akin resources.
“For galore years, the Ajaokuta Steel Company has stood arsenic a awesome of unrealized potential. However, I americium arrogant to accidental that it is present connected way to fulfilling its existent promise. The existent medication has shown unprecedented governmental volition to rejuvenate this captious nationalist asset.
“This is reflected successful the assignment of an indigenous nonrecreational to pb its revival, a determination that gives america anticipation for the aboriginal of Nigeria’s alloy industry. With Ajaokuta poised for success, we are looking astatine not conscionable an economical game-changer but a cornerstone for our industrialisation, occupation creation, and semipermanent economical growth”, helium said.
Representative of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and Commander of Mining Marshals, Attah John Onoja, assured the committee of the Corps’ afloat support.
He disclosed that since the motorboat of the Mining Marshals cognition successful March 2024, the NSCDC has arrested implicit 500 amerciable miners, with astir 270 presently facing trial, and precocious secured convictions that bespeak the seriousness of enforcement efforts.
Onoja noted that the cognition specifically targets amerciable mining, safeguards captious nationalist assets, and promotes compliance among ineligible operators.
“I privation to accidental precise rapidly that implicit 500 amerciable miners person been arrested successful the people of this operation. And this peculiar fig that we are talking about, astir 270 are presently facing proceedings arsenic we talk today. Just 3 weeks ago, we secured convictions, and each these efforts got towards ensuring that with the market, amerciable mining enactment successful Nigeria.
“Nigeria’s information and civilian defence corps, arsenic an agency, is assuring thi...
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