Dayo Akintobi, a public affairs expert, characterizes Nigeria’s extensive mineral wealth not as a burden but as an untapped advantage, attributing the country’s failure to harness this potential to years of neglect and ineffective governance.
During an appearance on Channels Television’s morning program, ‘The Morning Brief,’ Akintobi highlighted that despite Nigeria’s rich deposits of minerals, both the nation and the local communities where these resources are found remain largely excluded from the benefits of their extraction.
“This situation is not a curse; rather, it represents a mismanaged opportunity because the greatest beneficiaries should be the country and the local populations, yet they receive the least,” he remarked. “The challenges facing mining today closely resemble the long-standing issues experienced in the oil and gas industry.”
He pointed out that the mining sector’s stagnation reflects the same pattern of oversight and mismanagement that has historically plagued Nigeria’s oil and gas fields, underscoring how governmental inattention has stifled the industry’s potential to drive economic progress.
“There has been a significant lack of focused attention-particularly from government institutions-on the valuable mineral deposits beneath our soil, which could yield substantial economic returns if properly processed or marketed,” Akintobi explained.
Nonetheless, he praised the recent initiatives led by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, acknowledging the strides made in reforming and cleaning up the mining sector under the current administration.
“Minister Dele Alake has undertaken considerable efforts to overhaul the mining ecosystem, improving how mineral resources are extracted and formalizing ownership structures,” Akintobi noted. “Previously, foreign entities often negotiated directly with local villagers who were unaware of the true worth of their resources.”
He cautioned that the absence of robust regulatory frameworks and insufficient community education have enabled foreign companies to exploit Nigeria’s mineral wealth, undermining both national interests and local development.
According to LEADERSHIP, Akintobi’s insights come at a time when the federal government is intensifying its push to revitalize the mining industry, aiming to broaden Nigeria’s economic base beyond oil and ensure that resource wealth is fairly shared among communities.