The Ebonyi State Commissioner for Solid Minerals and Natural Resources, Chidi Onyia, has maintained that Nigeria cannot develop if it does not take concrete steps to harness the potential of its mining sector.
The commissioner tasked stakeholders in the sector in Nigeria to prepare to shift focus to renewable energy and pay attention to efforts geared towards strengthening the sector, even as the world grapples with the challenges of dwindling oil assets.
He gave the advice at Amaopara community, in the Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, on Wednesday, during an event to relocate natives living on mining grounds.
He said: “The country cannot fully develop until we start looking towards the solid minerals sector. This is because oil is already phasing out and since we are moving towards using renewal energy, it’s obvious the greater percentage of what we would be needing to power the green energy phase of our life would come from the solid minerals sector.”
He added: “We all know that before now, there have been miners in Ebonyi State. But it was obvious that the rights and privileges of our people concerning mining were being denied. However, since this administration came on board, we took it upon ourselves to work with the provisions of the Mining Act, which simply stipulates that natives within mining areas should be relocated to safer grounds or places.”
Nigeria cannot fully develop without maximising potential of mining sector – Ebonyi commissioner