With the creation of 350,000 jobs in the mines and metals sector of Nigeria’s economy, representing 11 percent in the country’s Gross Domestic Product within one year, the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development moves forward to surpass the figure.

In this next phase, it intends to go beyond the African shore. JOSEPH ERUNKE tries to find out how Mr. Mohammed Sada, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development known to be behind the success, intends to realise this dream.

ABUJA—”A lot of lucrative opportunities exist in the mines and steel industry in this country but we have not shown enough interest to make it thrive. The main objective of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development is to pursue an agenda that will create jobs and attract foreign investors.

I will develop a roadmap that will help to clearly define the scope of work and important areas to be pursued by the ministry so as to achieve this goal”.

With the above statement, there was no doubt that when he assumed office as minister in the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development after his re-appointment by President Goodluck Jonathan to serve in the on-going democratic dispensation,  Arc. Mohammed Sada did not pretend that he knew the various challenges lying ahead of him in the ministry.

That was why after studying all the mirage of problems confronting his ministry, he did not mince words on his intention to transform the entire minerals and steel sector of the economy which hitherto was left with little or no attention.

His decision was on the grounds that the mines and steel ministry which was established in 1985 as a bold attempt by the Nigerian government to spur the rapid and beneficial development of the country’s solid mineral resources had not lived up to expectation.

Yes, it was set up to unlock the economic potentials of the solid minerals sub-sector, but over twenty years after its establishment, the ministry was still dependent on government funds to carry out its statutory assignments when it is established that if properly tapped, earnings from the solid minerals sector could be higher than that from the oil sector.

Professor Sylvester Monye, Special Adviser to the President on Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation, had openly corroborated this during a round table on Natural Resources and Economic Growth organised by the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies in Abuja, when he said the earnings from a well-established solid mineral sector would surpass revenue from the oil sector.

He expressed concern that the solid mineral sector was still largely untapped and characterised by artisanal mining saying, “the country has 34 solid minerals, ranging from fossil fuel and radioactive minerals to metallic and non-metallic minerals.

It is obvious that an established and well-managed solid mineral sector will provide gainful employment and a rise in national income earnings, far in excess of what the petroleum sector is generating for the country”.

To improve activities in the sector, he explained that the present administration’s transformation agenda had prioritised reforms of the mode of exploitation of natural resources, and that government was providing technical assistance to small scale miners, in addition to extension services to mining co-operatives on exploration activities.

Former governor of Nasarawa State, a state known for its vast solid minerals abundance, Senator Abudllahi Adamu, regretted that government had not done much to harness the country’s vast natural resources.

“We are talking of Vision 20:20 to make Nigeria among the top 20 most industrialised economies in the world. 2020 is mere eight years from now. We are not moving fast enough to attain the goals of the vision; we have not seen much done for the solid minerals, the minister has been up and doing but there’s a limit to what the ministry can do”, he had said, and called on increased spending and infrastructure in the sector, to ensure diversified growth of the economy from the non-oil sector.

“The country right now is not getting much from the sector. In terms of GDP, what the sector is contributing is very small”, Adamu insisted .

Prof. Epiphany Azinge, the Director General of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, maintained that diversifying the economy remained the only option to make Nigeria one of the best economies by 2020.