.tasks staff on new agenda for sector, achievements

By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA – THE Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, Friday, said the Federal Government will go tough on companies who failed to implement Community Development Agreements, CDAs.

Alake gave the warning at the 2026 Annual Ministerial Retreat held in Abuja, with the theme ‘Aligning the Ministerial 7- Point Agenda with the Presidential Mandate’, which had management and staff of the Ministry of Solid Minerals in attendance.

According to a statement signed by the Head, Press and Public Relations Department, Kania Maliki Andeyaba, the Minister said he has “requested a list of companies that failed to sign or implement CDAs, he warned of imminent drastic measures, including revocation of titles for non-compliance.

“Recalling past precedent, the Minister said that there was a prior mass revocation of over 3,000 titles.

“When companies honor CDAs, he said communities are incentivized to maintain peaceful conditions, creating a positive cycle for continued investment.”

Meanwhile, he said more drastic measures will be taken to combat illegal mining and enhance sectoral security while he maintained that the Ministry’s role is mainly regulatory and to create enabling laws, but confronting armed illegal miners requires constitutional security agencies to handle them.

However, he assured the Ministry’s support to strengthen mining marshals by boosting operational capacity, including plans for armored vehicles, fences, arms and ammunition, but budgetary cash backing remains essential for its implementation.

But he noted that new, outside-the-box ideas are still needed to bolster enforcement and institutional capacity.

The Minister emphasised that the retreat should generate implementable ideas, cross-fertilize perspectives, and allow frank feedback.

He also charged agencies in the solid minerals sector and personnel of the Ministry to think outside the box and develop fresh 7-Point agenda to move the sector to the next level.

According to him, some of the initial seven point agenda of the Ministry will not be abandoned as they are at various levels of completion.

“I want to charge every one of us to come up with initiatives, initiatives that will take us beyond those seven points items on our agenda. For all I care, if we can set up a new seven point agenda above for it, I will be running, and we’ll be going and flying higher.

“Like I said, we won’t abandon this current seven point agenda, because they are in various stages of completion, some years, some, you know, various percentages, so we must continue to consolidate all of those, while setting new goals and casting our eyes on new horizons.

“We must crest the mountain of success at all times, that has to be a watch word, so this retreat we must ask ourselves the questions, which areas do we need to improve or set new agenda.

“Yes, our agenda, as listed, is known: economic transformation, growth diversification, revenue generation top education youth empowerment industrialization local value addition security transparency, which is very high on my own score”, he added.

Charging the participants on drafting a the new seven-point agenda, he said that achieving real, measurable progress in the sector depends first and foremost on institutional effectiveness — a change in mindset and the human factor.

Earlier, in am address of In his welcome, the Permanent Secretary of Solid Minerals Development, Engr Faruk Yusuf Yabo, explained that said the retreat is a strategic leadership session meant to align vision, strengthen resolve, and accelerate delivery of the Ministry’s mandates under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Yabo described the retreat as more than a routine meeting, which is to drive policy into measurable results while noting that Nigeria is richly endowed with critical and strategic minerals, including lithium, gold, tin, columbite, lead, zinc, gemstones, iron ore, coal, and limestone.

He also said the resources can underpin industrialisation, economic diversification, job creation, increased export earnings, and broader national prosperity.

He also made a submission that mineral wealth alone does not guarantee development, but outcomes will depend on the quality of leadership, the effectiveness of institutions, and collective commitment to implementation.

The Permanent Secretary emphasizes that the era of “business as usual” is over and that performance will be judged against clear deliverables.

He only listed the seven ministerial priority areas the Minister’s reform agenda is concentrated on, which he said are national deliverables and benchmarks for assessing the Ministry’s performance.

In his goodwill message, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals Development, Senator Ekong Sampson, noted that the sector has recorded milestones but it is now time for harvest.

But he noted that the budgetary provision to the sector is not enough to speed up harvest and implementation in the sector.

Speeding up the harvest, he said, is the easiest way to drive Nigeria’s diversification.

On his part, the Chairman of the House Committee on Solid Minerals Development, Jonathan Gaza, said that the 7 point agenda addressed the root of Solid Minarals Development in the country, but faulted the meager sum been released to the sector.

He, therefore called on President Bola Tinubu to treat the sector with the priority it deserves.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Steel Development, Abba Rimi, said his Ministry stands ready to collaborate with Solid Minerals Development ministry towards national development.

He was optimistic that the retreat will contribute to Nigeria’s mining development agenda.

The Director of Planning, Research and Statistics at the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, Mohammed Abba Abdullahi, noted that the Ministry’s priorities are concrete benchmarks by which the President will judge performance.