Thirty Civil Society Organisations have raised alarm over alleged plans by some individuals to sabotage the effort of President Bola Tinubu in the sector, warning such enemies to steer clear.
The CSOs which claimed it came up with the suspicions after a painstaking independent assessment of developments in Nigeria’s mining industry, warned of a clandestine plan by some group of persons displaced by the administration for engaging in illicit activities in the sector to set it up for failure.
Headed by the Global Peace and Life Rescue Initiative, GOPRI, the thirty incorporated non-partisan Organizations advised the Tinubu’s administration to explore the mining sector as a means of diversifying Nigeria’s revenue from the oil sector to non-oil.
The groups’ position was conveyed in a joint statement on Tuesday, signed by Amb. Melvin Ejeh, Executive Director, GOPRI; Dr Ibrahim Khalifa, National Coordinator, Center For Justice and Good Governance in Africa; Engr. Bashir Dan Zaria, Executive Director, Conference of North West Professionals Network (CONOWP); Dr Mrs Remi Edun, National Coordinator, Community Action for Development (CAD) and Dr Mrs Ngozi Amechi, National Women Empowerment Network. (NAWOEN), respectively.
In the statement, the groups warned of an alleged campaign of calumny against the leadership of the mining sector.
The statement reads: “We were shocked at the kind of transformation and massive reforms going on in the Ministry of Solid Minerals, particularly, the Nigeria Mining Cadastral Office.
“From our findings, the Nigeria Mining Cadastre has been fully digitalized and reformed and can compete anywhere in the world.
“We are, however, alerting the government and Nigerians to be on the lookout for any campaign of calumny against the agency and its leadership.
“From the kind of reforms going on in the Nigeria Cadastre Office, some big players who specialize in illegal and fraudulent mining activities that have been displaced may want to fight back, the statement warned.
CSOs warn against possible sabotage of mining sector
