Mohammed Shosanya
Miners Association of Nigeria,MAN,has expressed regret that Nigerian Banks do not understand mining sector and find it difficult to provide funding for local miners to boost their operations.
The association also said its members are yet to benefit from fund provided by the Bank of Industry for local business owners in the country.
President of the association, Dele Ayanleke, expressed these at a virtual press conference on Thursday,
“I have not seen anyone who has been given anything by the Bank of Industry. Some of our members have filled out the forms, met the requirements, and have long been waiting for the money. Yet, nothing has come,”he added.
He suggested increased funding for local miners in Nigeria to enable them to compete favourably with foreign companies he alleged have infiltrated the mining sector “with huge cash, and better equipment.”
He emphasized the need for a review of the Nigeria Mining Development Fund to better equip local miners, while at the same time, fighting poverty which is behind artisanal mining in Nigeria.
He decried multiple regulations and multiple taxations in the industry, insisting on the need for a national dialogue on resource control between states and the federal government to address the crisis.
Ayanleke,who noted that mining falls under the Exclusive Legislative List of the 1999 Constitution,lamented that more states are enforcing individual laws thereby creating problems for the industry.
He urged security agencies, and other relevant institutions to come to the aid of local miners whose mining leases are revoked by host communities due to pressures from expatriate companies.
He maintained that the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development should maintain the issuance of major mining leases to expatriate companies, with the small-scale mining leases remaining for local industry players.
