By Martha Agas
An expert, Prof. Akinade Olatunji has urged the Federal Government to support indigenous small scale mining companies to access modern mining equipment for their operations.
Akinade made the call in his presentation on `Leveraging the Domestic Experience: Need for Homegrown Strategy for Advancing the Mineral and Mining Sector,` on Wednesday in Abuja.
The presentation was on the sidelines of the 10th edition of Nigeria’s Mining Week, with the theme, `Nigeria Mining: From Progress to Global Relevance.’
The professor of Applied Geochemistry said the support was by ensuring robust financial and material support to the companies through the establishment of extension services.
“This is through establishment of extension services to indigenous small scale mining companies to allow for access to modern mining machineries in identified mining clusters in the country,” he said.
He said government policies should be designed to promote the success of homegrown strategies for developing the mining sector, similar to what was achieved in the oil industry.
He cited the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act of 2010 and the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) of 2021 as examples of policies that harnessed local expertise and experience.
Prof. Akinade said the government should adopt an Intentional Backward Integration Policy, under which materials and inputs previously imported would be produced locally, to help grow industries, create jobs and save foreign currency.
He listed additional measures the government could implement to include providing geological data, setting up commodity markets and introducing an insurance scheme for small-scale miners.
“One of the necessary measures is the provision of basic geological and mining engineering data procured by government agencies to improve the chances of success of the Small Scale Mining Lease (SSML) operators.
“Facilitation of the establishment of commodity markets where mine products could be sold at internationally acceptable rate is also a necessary measure.
“Also necessary is the facilitation of an insurance scheme for SSML on a model where the premium will not be burdensome but one that will assure some safety net in a very delicate sector,” he said.
