Alake, Lawmakers, Stakeholders Unite To Deliver Tinubu’s Renewed Hope For Solid Minerals

In a fresh push to turn President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda into tangible results, Nigeria’s solid minerals sector is rolling out bold new strategies to become a powerful engine of economic diversification, job creation, and national prosperity.

Speaking at the opening of a high-level Ministerial Retreat themed “Enhancing Performance, Strengthening Accountability, and Fostering Innovation in the Solid Minerals Sector” on Friday in Abuja, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Oladele Henry Alake, declared that Nigeria must break from old habits to harness its vast underground wealth.

“Colleagues, the era of business-as-usual is over,” Dr. Alake said at the Wells Carlton Hotel, Asokoro. “On excellence, we must neither fail nor falter. Our Ministry is now a model for service delivery but this is not just an award to display, it’s a call to deliver.”

Dr. Alake highlighted major milestones under Tinubu’s administration, including the creation of the Nigerian Solid Minerals Company a public-private investment powerhouse a historic ₦1 trillion exploration budget to close Nigeria’s mining data gap, and the deployment of the first-ever Mining Marshals to stamp out illegal mining.

“Our mining licence revenue jumped from ₦6 billion in 2023 to ₦12.58 billion in 2024. Royalties doubled to ₦36.8 billion. Over 300 artisanal cooperatives have been formalised. This proves that with vision and will, we can make solid minerals the backbone of our non-oil economy,” the Minister declared.

“Our charge is clear. Together, we must keep the faith with the Renewed Hope Agenda and deliver a sector that works not just for us, but for generations to come”, he concluded.

Backing the Ministry’s drive, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals Development, Senator Ekong Sampson, said robust legislative support would anchor these gains for the benefit of all Nigerians.

“From gold to lithium, bitumen to coal, our underground riches hold the key to true economic diversification,” Senator Sampson told the gathering. “Enhanced performance and innovation will unlock this wealth to transform lives, create jobs, curb insecurity, and earn foreign exchange.”

He pledged: “Our collaboration with the Ministry is key. We will keep refining policy and oversight to ensure Nigeria’s mineral wealth works for its people.”

Adding a strong voice from the House of Representatives, Chairman, House Committee on Solid Minerals, Honourable Jonathan Gaza Gbefwi, said the Ministry’s reforms had already attracted record-breaking investments.

“In under two years, we moved from earning $6 billion to a revenue base of $38 billion and attracted over $800 billion in foreign direct investment,” Hon. Gbefwi said. “The creation of the Nigerian Solid Minerals Development Company is a masterstroke it puts us on the path of an oil-and-gas-like revolution. But we must build institutions that outlive us, so that our communities feel the benefits.”

Permanent Secretary, Engr. Yabo Faruk Yusuf, said,
“Our Civil Service Week award shows what’s possible when we work together with commitment and accountability,” Engr. Yusuf said. “This retreat is our springboard to do more.”

Reinforcing this call for action, Director-General of the Nigerian Mining Cadastre Office, Engr. Obadiah Simon Nkom, called the retreat a moment of rebirth.

“‘Retreat’ means we want to make it better. We are here to retreat ourselves by the time we leave here, we would have become better. Apart from the wealth beneath our feet, we are the wealth,” he said to applause. “Capacity building is our true strength. With the support of the Minister, the Permanent Secretary, and the National Assembly, we will build a sector that attracts investors and transforms communities.”