NAN-HE-14
Mining
Kosubosu (Kwara), April 25, 2017 (NAN) Mallam Musa Buge, the Chairman, Baruten Local Council of Kwara, on Tuesday berated the Federal Government for neglecting the mining sector of the economy for too long.
Buge, in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said that the government had lost much revenues for its failure to explore the abundant mineral deposits in the country.
The council chief decried high rate of illegal mining operations in its boundary with the Republic of Benin.
According to him, Kaura village in the area has been a haven of high illegal mining operations.
He noted that government was not paying due attention, in spite of the Federal Government being duly informed.
“There is nothing the council could do to curb the illegal activities.
“We only deployed security agents at a time to control the crowd when it was becoming a threat.
“The Minister for Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, promised to come last week, but we couldn’t see him,” he said.
Buge said that if the mining industry was harnessed, it could earn Nigeria more that what it generated from the oil revenue.
The chairman urged the government to urgently contract a company to the site to curb the illegal operations. (NAN)
AUO/IA
Edited by Idris Abdulrahman