Can plunder be taken from warriors, or captives rescued from the fierce? But this is what the Lord says: Yes captives will be taken from warriors, and plunder retrieved from the fierce

——Prophet Isaiah, in the Holy Bible.

IF it is true, that President Muhammadu Buhari, PMB, will appoint his ministers, in two months’  time as reported, he must take his good time to look into the Ministry of Mines and steel, with the sole intention to breaking the strong lid, which they have used to cover and hold our solid minerals in captivity and bondage since the past over 20 years.

The doubt I have expressed in the report about the timing of the ministerial list announcement, stems from the conflicting reports we get these days about government policies and actions. For example, it was reported that some Boko Haram detainees  would be transferred from somewhere in the north to Anambra state, last week.

The people started protesting, because it will shift the attention of Boko Haram to that state, common criminals will acquire terror skills  from these suspect inmates, and will ultimately introduce terrorism to the South East, a zone that is already grappling with kidnapping without any adequate help from the Federal Government.

The APC spokes’ man for the South East , last Sunday  said the reported transfer of Boko Haram detainees was a blatant falsehood. But the very next day, it was reported that 47 Boko Haram detainees were transferred in the night, amidst heavy security to Ekwulobia Prison in Anambra State.

Thus, APC in Anambra state lied, deceived the people, and is politicising such a serious matter! The questions include; Why mix up terrorists with common civil detainees? Why not build befitting holding camps for these dare devils ? Why spread the virus to the South East? If we can build Helipads, as reported, can’t we also build detention centres for these terrorists ? Transfer of terrorist suspects into normal prisons is a very bad, short sighted, a dangerous policy. President MB, should stop and change it without much ado.

If it is true therefore that President MB, will rule Nigeria, as a Sole Minister of the Federation for a quarter of the year, from May to August, he just needs to break the captivity of the Solid minerals by taking a deep look into the mining and steel sectors of this economy. It has been said that, Nigeria has over 40 different types of solid minerals buried in the land, waiting to be exploited for money.

About over 70 percent of these minerals are buried in the bowels of the North. Nasarawa State has been tagged the home of Solid Minerals, Bauchi also has quite a number of these minerals. Gold can be found in commercial quantities in Niger, Kebbi, Kaduna, Kogi, Kwara, Zamfara, and Osun States. The commercial value of Nigeria’s solid minerals run into hundreds of trilions of US Dolars!

In 2012, the Federal Ministry of Mines and steel, announced that Nigeria is losing N8 trillon , that is $50 billion annually, to non-exploitation of Gold only. It can be safely calculated that all other solid minerals put together, can conveniently give another N10 trillion ( $70billion), bringing the total likely loss of this nation annually to over N18 trillion ( $120 billion). This gives an idea of the wealth held captive, by the managers of this country since the past over 20 years !

It is therefore very hard for anyone to convince informed Nigerians, that  that we are broke, we have no money in the treasury, we are a poor nation, we should expect austerity, we can’t pay workers, and all such trash! Without further excuses, the wealth of this nation locked up in solid minerals should be released, with its potential to employ over two million persons.

Some reasons have been adduced for the lack of development of this sector. First, is the ethnicity factor. It is believed that since over 70 percent of the solid minerals are in the north, they have strategically shielded the sector from development, so as to rely on it, when oil dries up. While we all clamour over oil which is in the bowel of the South, there are no appreciable policies to exploit the wealth of solid minerals in the north.

The second reason is the strong hold of a cabal of the powerful to emasculate the sector, and shield it from attention and investment. This group has a strong grip on the Ministry of Mining and Steel, to ensure that the major projects in that sector like, the Ajaokuta, Aladja, Itape, Iron ore and steel rolling mills, fail repeatedly, to discourage investments.

The third reason, is poor funding and empowerment of the sector coupled with poor policy implementation drives, resulting in frustrations all over the place. The Solid Minerals Development Fund in the Mining and Solid Minerals Development Act 2006, has been poorly implemented, so far.

Nigerian Banks typically shy away from lending to the sector, because of its long gestation period for investments, thereby complicating matters for the operators in the sector.

Two principal ways  to unlock this sector will involve first, the creation of a national commission patterned after the NNPC, but without the administrative setups that made the NNPC, a wicked octopus of corruption and manipulations, which has made oil business in Nigeria very oily. The proper use of the instrumentation of a commission will make solid minerals business very solid for the nation.

Second, will be to create a deliberate enabling financial environment for the players in that sector. The Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Bank of Industries, need to create a special funding for the Solid Minerals and allied sector. As a sector that has the potential to generate over 15 percent of the national GDP, all hands must be on deck to liberate the sector from its captivity in the hands of the fierce and powerful. Only President MB, can do it, and now, as part of the change he has brought to Nigeria.

Clement Udegbe, a legal practitioner, wrote from Lagos.