President Bola Tinubu has said that Nigeria is blessed with abundant solid mineral deposits and should not remain impoverished.

The President made the remarks on Wednesday at the 2025 Nigeria Mining Week held in Abuja.

Represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, Tinubu said, “Nigeria has no reason to be poor, given our abundant resources and talented people.

“Our challenge is to harness these potentials to bring prosperity to all. Let us turn our minerals into miracles of development. ‘Minerals to Miracles’ must be our rallying cry.”

Describing the Nigeria Mining Week as “an emerging global forum generating ideas to guide the nation’s journey toward economic renewal through investor and company collaboration”, Tinubu assured that the Federal Government remained committed to ensuring that mining areas across Nigeria are safe for all stakeholders, including investors, workers, and host communities.

The President emphasised Nigeria’s continental leadership role, stating, “When our mining sector thrives, it signals that value-added resource development is Africa’s way forward.

He noted that Africa held about 30 per cent of the world’s known mineral reserves and significant deposits of the critical minerals driving the 21st-century global economy.

“We must harness this wealth responsibly, ensuring that more value remains within our economies, creating jobs and industrial clusters,” the President urged.

While speaking earlier, the Deputy Director, Communications & Stakeholders Management, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Chris Ochonu, called on policymakers to ensure a harmonised, transparent, and predictable regulatory framework for Nigeria’s solid minerals sector, to sustain growth and attract long-term capital investments.

Ochonu said that although findings showed significant improvements in the licensing process, it called for equal priority to address policy overlaps and multiple taxation, which continue to discourage credible investors and limit sectoral growth.

The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, said, “Nigeria’s mining sector stands at a defining moment, undergoing far-reaching reforms aimed at repositioning it from a largely informal and underperforming space into a cornerstone of our economic diversification and energy transition strategy.”

Citing NEITI’s 2023 Solid Minerals Industry Report, Dr. Orji noted that the sector’s contribution to GDP remains below 1%, even though revenues grew modestly from ?339.57 billion in 2022 to ?401.87 billion in 2023.

He emphasised that despite this growth, the figures are far below the sector’s full potential. “Our data further reveal that artisanal and small-scale mining accounted for over 80% of total production volumes but contributed less than 30% of royalties paid. This underscores deep governance and structural challenges that demand urgent reform,” he stated.

Also speaking, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Oladele Alake, presented a status report on reforms initiated by the present administration to transform the mining sector and reposition it as a driver of economic growth.

On the sidelines of the Mining Week, Dr. Orji also addressed a special mining forum organised by the Kaduna Mining Development Company, where he underscored the importance of transparency and accountability in repositioning the company for greater productivity, investor confidence, and sustainable impact.

In a detailed presentation, he outlined how sub-national mining companies can play a strategic role in driving institutional reforms and attracting investment into state economies. (CHANNELS)