After five long years of waiting, the Federal Government has finally decided to lift the ban on mining activities in Zamfara State. Five years after the ban was imposed due to rising insecurity, the government is now claiming that the security situation has significantly improved. In a press briefing, Dele Alake, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, declared that the time had come to reopen the state’s lucrative mining sector.
Zamfara, which is known for its vast mineral wealth, has been at the center of Nigeria’s security crisis for years. Armed bandits, kidnapping, and rampant violence were the reasons behind the original ban on mining. And yet, now that the government claims the “security situation has improved,” they are ready to open the gates to this gold mine, literally.
Let’s not forget the impact the ban had on illegal mining. Alake admitted that the well-intentioned ban unintentionally created a vacuum that was quickly filled by illegal miners. So, while the government was busy praising itself for enforcing the ban, the real beneficiaries were the rogue miners who continued to extract gold and other minerals without any oversight. Now, with the lifting of the ban, we are expected to believe that the government can finally regulate these activities effectively. But if they couldn’t regulate them before, what makes anyone think they will now? And let’s not forget, the same government that allowed illegal mining to thrive for years is now claiming that it will create a “better regulated” mining environment.
Of course, Alake insists that the security situation in Zamfara has drastically improved under the current administration. He proudly pointed to the capture of bandit commander Halilu Sububu as evidence of success. While this is certainly a step in the right direction, the truth is that the security situation in Zamfara is far from stable. Banditry and violence are still rampant in many parts of the state, and it’s hard to believe that the situation has improved enough to justify opening up the state’s wealth of natural resources to exploitation.
And then there’s the ongoing drama with the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with France. Alake was quick to defend the agreement, insisting that it doesn’t mean Nigeria is giving up control of its resources or entering into a military pact with France. According to him
So, here we are—five years after the initial ban, with the government claiming that it has solved all of Zamfara’s security issues and that the state is ready to contribute to the nation’s economic growth.
