Host communities must receive maximum benefits from mining operations, says Dele Alake

Dele Alake, minister of solid minerals development, says the federal government will ensure host communities receive maximum benefits from mining operations in their areas.

Speaking at the 2023 West African mining host communities indaba (conference), on Wednesday, in Abuja, Alake said the government is committed to improving the security of the mining environment through a new security architecture already in the works.

“Everyone of us in this hall comes from one host community or the other. We come from somewhere, and that’s a host community,” he said.

“So when we talk about energising, enhancing the situation of host communities, we are talking about ourselves.

“If we are doing it for ourselves, it means we must give the desk to the host communities. So, we must ensure that host communities receive and derive maximum benefits from mining operations in their areas.”

The minister said that there is also a law that mandates and regulates activities between miners and host communities.

“There must be material benefits for these host communities. There is a clause in the Nigerian Mining Act that affects host communities,” he said.

“It mandates host communities and operating companies to sign community development agreements (CDAs).

“However, given our brief experience in this sector, we’ve noticed that there are altercations in the implementation of these CDAs.

“There are some communities that are at loggerheads with operators, or disagreements on some clauses in the CDAs, or most importantly, the difficulty in determining who are the genuine leaders of the communities. This has led to disputes, halting development, and economic activities.

“At the ministry, we are conceptualising policies, creating mechanisms to reduce such disputes to the barest minimum to ensure maximum beneficiation for everyone concerned.”

Alake also affirmed the commitment of the government to create an enduring governance structure to herald sustainable development in the mining sector.

“The governance structure is particularly very significant to move the solid minerals sector forward, not only to achieve the objectives of development but also to translate all policies into reality and achievements,” he said.

The minister said the sector has been neglected over the years but that has changed, as the ministry is not oblivious to the transition to clean energy globally.

Alake said for the survival of the economy, the focus has been shifted to the country’s God-given resource that is in abundance — solid minerals.