By Gabriel Ewepu, Abuja

In a bid to ensure peace and development in the solid minerals sector, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, Thursday, called on mining companies to strictly adhere to the revised guidelines of the Community Development Agreements, CDAs, for smooth operations.

Alake stated this in his speech while unveiling the revised ‘Guidelines for the Production of Community Development Agreements (CDAs) in the Solid Minerals Sector’ in Abuja, organized by the Centre LSD, Ministry of Solid Minerals Development and Ford Foundation.

The 23-page revised CDA comprises four chapters and is very handy, which the Minister said all Nigerians need to read and have a grasp of.

He said: “The aim is to ensure that our host communities derive maximum benefits from the operations of our mineral sector. Now, why would that be? Number one is the fact that we have shifted our attention to the mineral sector in this country to date. Precisely this course we need economic survival.

“We must exploit our God-given resources for the betterment of our people, and who are our people, the host community.

“Like I said yesterday, each and every one of us comes from one host community or the other. Even if you are not from a host community, you are from one community, we are all from one community or the other, and invariably from what we have seen so far, there is hardly any state in this country without one mineral resource or the other, and all are very critical significant, expensive to mine, and have impact on the host community. So for the very secured and peaceful operations of mineral resources, the host communities must be carried along in all operations.

“And that is why the Nigerian government felt it necessary to include in the Mining Act of 2007 a very important clause which stipulates that mining companies must sign an agreement with the host community and the agreement must spell out the beneficiation programme like awarding scholarships to host community people ensuring training employing people properly whose community carry them along in all their operation with the overall objective of a certain operation, and operators carry out their duties effortlessly without any problem without any infraction.

“That is the essence of the guideline of the community development agreement.”

He also said on the heels of disputes that have recurred and negatively impacting both the host communities and mining companies, it became necessary to have the revised guidelines of CDAs.

Meanwhile, the Minister commended effort of the management and staff of the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development including Centre LSD “for ensuring that these revised guidelines have been worked through assiduously and meticulously to ensure that no stone is left unturned.”

He also disclosed that his Ministry is working hard to sanitize the process of licencing to reduce the complaints received.