In recent months, the tussle for the soul of Zurak, a mineral rich town bordering Plateau, Bauchi and Taraba states, has seen the Ministry of Mines & Steel Development go to war with one of the area’s popular miners and the chief executive officer of Solid Unit, Abdullahi Adamu, popularly known as ‘Dan China’. In this no-holds-barred interview with Abdulsalam Lukeman O. and Micheal Ogaba, the man who has been declared ‘wanted’ by the minister spills his side of the story.
Q. Recently news made the rounds that you reportedly mined minerals worth over N100bn in Zurak. How true is this assertion?
R. What I want to say about this is who told people that Zurak is the only place to mine Lead and Zinc? Who told them that there were deposits there and not in some other areas? These are the biggest questions, for me. Before you and try to stop someone, there must be a reason. Now, the last reasons has to come first, because, as far as I am concerned, Zurak has no Lead deposits. We are just there, because I have been there for 16 years mining and have spent a lot of money. Now, someone is talking of N100bn. How much did I invest before I started getting the said N100bn? It could be that I have spent as much as N300bn before getting the N100bn I am accused of making; but, now, someone somewhere is more concerned about how much I make. I pay royalty and, because of peace, I pay the local community and the state, as well. Most of these are not legal, but actions geared towards maintaining peace. I pay rent for parking space and, then, I pay the Federal Government’s royalties, accordingly.
I do not think there is anyone who does not know me in this ministry, unless that person was recently employed.
Why is everyone suddenly interested in Zurak? It is a huge minus, as far as business is concerned, because what you get there is just industrial minerals. What of the precious metals in other places which everyone knows about, but no one is interested in focusing on?
Why I’m I here? I just want to change this country for the better, as much as I can.
If someone is coming to visit you, the person should inform you before coming or invite you over and ask “My friend, what is happening; are you paying royalties for these?” No one asked me anything. Till now, all I have heard is hear-say in the media and I do not care about it, because, first, it is false. Secondly, I am not the one they are embarrassing; they are embarrassing the people of Zurak.
For me, Zurak is not the only place I am mining in Africa or in Nigeria. I maintained Zurak because I have invested sixteen years of my life and 16 years’ worth of resources there. To some of the people who work for me and some of the locals, I am like an uncle or a close relative. These are the ones I cannot disown, so I remain in Zurak.
I have worked in Igboland, in Niger, in Uyo and other places; why is no one talking about these places?
The last question I want to ask is, is it only Solid Unit that is operating there? I pay my taxes, for God’s sake.
Q. The picture which everyone has of you is that of an ‘illegal’ miner. Are you, If not, how do you convince someone otherwise?
R. If they say I am an illegal miner, how did they know that? Which party is acting illegally; me or them? They call me ‘illegal miner’, but they are the ones who would not ask questions first before coming after me.
While they are trying to prosecute me for reasons best known to them, I can sue them for defamation, for calling me an illegal miner. Before one becomes an illegal miner, there must be reasons beyond reasonable doubt, to say ‘this man is an illegal miner.’ But, I have never seen someone who was mining in a place for 16 years labeled an ‘illegal’ miner. It could be that you did not check properly or you are the ‘illegal’ person.
Now, as a security outfit, before they can go about labeling people and calling them names, these people have to be taken to court and be convicted, before they can label them. No single individual can call anyone ‘illegal’. In this case, they are the ‘illegal’ people, because they went there illegally. I was not informed.
When I saw them, I asked them ‘What do you want? If it is license, look at it. If it is royalty, here is the proof of payment.’ In terms of revenue income in Plateau State, I have a letter that recommends me for maintaining yearly payment of revenue.
What I understand with these other people is that there is a political undertone to what they are doing and it does not scare me, because this is my field – not just in Zurak alone, but in Africa – and if they have to stop it, they have to state a reason.
Also, they have to understand that when you see someone who has invested money in such a venture, instead of discouraging him, try to encourage him as a leader.
Now, if I ask the ministry for the 13 per cent they pay back to the state after paying the royalties, there is no record of remittance. None. Can they answer for the records? No, they can’t. But they have rights to label one an ‘illegal miner’. I pay all I am supposed to pay to the state and the Federal Government, but when the money comes to them, they do not remit to the state or to the Federal Government. Who is illegal; me or them?
Now, let me use Zurak as an analogy. I was here before the Mining Cadastral Office was inaugurated in August 2007. I started operating here in 2004. Now, will I still be prospecting? I can’t still be prospecting, three years after. I finished prospecting and started mining, even before the cadastral office came into existence.
When they came, they ordered me to change my mining license to mining ‘lease’ and I agreed. They came back and said “the court this, the court that…” and I said “alright, let us go to court.” We went to court and I defeated them in both judgements. What do they want now?
It is not only in Plateau that I have done what is required of me; I have done so all over the country, as well. However, I think Plateau is peculiar, because of the presence of Tin, Columbite and other industrial minerals which encouraged the Europeans to settle here back then. Now, the more marketable ones are Lead and Zinc. It is a good thing for the state, but the state needs to ask the ministry a few questions about their 13 per cent.
Now, they should also ask the ministry, “if this person is paying you for the surface activities, why is it that he is also paying you differently for the TIN number?” What I noticed is that the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development is not remitting anything to the state or the Federal governments. If they are not doing that, I wonder if they know anything about the law of Federalism or what it means.
If the people or government of Plateau State understand how much they are losing, they would have no issue with Federal Allocation, because they would be making a lot from the revenue being generated from mining activities in the state. I am serious. However, I am talking about many states which have minerals, not just Plateau State.
I got license from you. I pay royalties to you and I have documents to prove all these. Why do you call me ‘illegal’?
What I want Nigerians to know is that the mining sector is going to be the future of this country, because we have minerals in large, commercial quantities. Good enough, it is in all the states of the country. Now, the minister of mines and his people are discouraging an indigenous person from doing the work, because they want to go and bring other people who will come to our country, take loans from our banks, get the profit and go away with their money. Is that wise? Nigerians who are investing their money in this sector should get more and more support. They should not just look at the gains; they should check out how much money I spent before getting to where I am today. It is 16 years today, since I first came here and, so far, I have spent over N50bn. If the ministry is so enraged by the fact that I have made as much as N100bn from this, why can’t they set up their own interest to make so much money and help out the Nigerian economy?
This was how they killed Abakiliki Mines, Ishiagu Mines, the mines in Alkaleri Local Government in Bauchi, Adamawa, Taraba, Zamfara and many other states have been affected by the ministry’s strange approach. A president once advised indigenous investors to make more efforts in the mining industry. We have, but it is still the same government people who are trying to stop us. If you can’t create a great environment for the locals, how do you want the foreigners to come and invest?
But, to be honest I do not blame the ministry, because it has no mine of its own. All it officials do is sit in Abuja, sign papers and get paid.
Until they understand that this is the future of Nigeria, they will continue to make wrong decisions. Sadly, whatever they do, they cannot win this one, and because the land they are coming after is mine and I have spent over N50bn there. They know all these, because they have been there. But, then, if they think that the place yields so much and they want it so badly, they can pay me the money I have spent on the place and I can leave. That is not the only place to find Lead and Zinc.
We are the miners and we know how much of these minerals are in the ground, but we are afraid of exposing these things, because of these kinds of attacks. If I leave that place in their hands for one year and go away, you will see the degree of failure. They are not miners. Mining is for hard-working people who have zero tolerance for laziness.
Look; through the activities going on here, many have been trained in the basics of mining, many others have gained employment, earned scholarships here and abroad and made their lives better. This is my reputation everywhere I work. Where is the ministry’s reputation? You have no mining site, yet, you are the regulator. Worse, they have flouted court rules.
My advice to the ministry is for it to liase with miners to boost the nation’s income and build knowledge of the people they call ‘illegal’ miners.
Look at their actions in Zurak. People have been mining in this locale and trying to survive for over 60 years, and, suddenly, you go there and seal off the place. Do you want to kill the people? That is all they know. They do not farm or fish; they just mine.
Q. There is another report that you have an exploration license, yet you are mining. A number of people have license to explore, but use it to mine. Now, if this is the practice, do you think you were singled out and made to look bad?
R. Of course, I have been singled out. How else do you want me to put it? My joy is that money is not my goal; if I want to make money out of this, it would take me no less than three days to make a fortune.
As for the exploration license, I want to understand what they are saying, because what they are saying is not what obtains in the law. The law on this states that: “in the course of exploration, if you get the mineral – no matter the quantity – you declare it and pay royalty to the government.” Who changed this and said ‘without exploration license, you cannot mine?’
People were there before me and I was there before the Cadastral office was launched, so I cannot come explore where people are mining already.
The first time the ministry officials visited, they said I should pay for the mining lease and I did. The lease should have been in my hands 45 days after I paid for it, but it has been seven years and nothing of that sort has been delivered to me. Who is the criminal here? I troubled them; minister after minister, ministry after ministry, but they did not get back to me. Next thing I hear, they said ‘we must close Adbullahi Adamu’s mines.’ Why should you close Abdullahi Adamu’s mines, are they the only ones here?
The Ministry of Mines has scared people away from solid minerals mining, but some of us remain and are trying to survive.
Yet, this is the nation’s future, because the crude oil has reached its elastic point. The youth unemployment and poverty in our localities can only be solved by the solid minerals mining sector and not petroleum anymore.
In my company, the minimum salary of a worker is N200,000. I bear the brunt, not the Federal Government and, given the number of people in my employ, it is not bad. So, why do they want to sabotage me? Well, they can do what they like, but they cannot beat the law. What the law on this issue is what will happen and nothing more.
Q. When the Minister of Mines & Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, visited Zurak recently, he declared that only two companies mining in Zurak were recognised and that your company, Solid Unit, was not one of them.
R. Well, the minister, Kayode, is no miner. He is just a veterinary doctor. He was just swept into a political appointment, because the APC came to power. So, how did he know of this? Who gave him the report? Is he a geology specialist? No. Is he a miner? No. What does he know about an over-60-year-old mine which was in existence before he was born? Nothing. Is he only aware of the mines in Plateau State? What of those who are mining precious stones in Ekiti, his home state? All these were there when he was governor. Did he check them? He may be the minister, but he is not in the system. Worse, he was not properly briefed. If he was, he would not have come out so hastily to say that.
To make things worse, he is aware that a case is in court, but he went ahead to say this, bringing the court into contempt with his utterances. So, in the light of that, who flouted the law?
This ministry is so sensitive that you don’t just give it to anyone. The minister has no specialisation to be in this ministry. None.
Recently, the minister was in Australia, to talk to some miners and, some of them who are my students, called to inform me of his presence. I urged them to take notes of what he would say. After he left, they called and asked me for advice on what to do. Now, would I have told them that ‘if you come here to mine and they see that the mine is yielding money, they will fight to take it from you’?
Q. The minister, in the company of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the governor of Plateau State, declared you wanted publicly. Are you on the run?
R. How can I be on the run? Only a court can declare me wanted and there was no judge there. Fayemi is a minister, NSA is a security adviser and the governor is who he is…the governor. You cannot open your mouth in public and say someone is ‘wanted’, while you know nothing about it yourself.
If he is a lawyer or judge, then, he can issue me with a court judgment that I am wanted. If I sue him to court for defamation, can he pay me for damages, since he has enough money and is reckless enough to say such things in public?
How can you declare me wanted, when, you never invited me and I refused to show up; I never used violence anywhere and you know where to find me? For God’s sake, I am no criminal, neither are my workers. In Zurak, where they are so interested in, there are military men, SSS officers and other security outfits. If I were wanted, they should have ordered these officers to arrest me.
I am not entirely surprised, because, after they did the same thing in Nasarawa State, they sold it to Australians.
Q. An online news outfit, thecable.ng, has likened you to Mexican drug-lord, El Chapo. Are you that notorious?
R. Notorious? If I can get to a mineral which the government cannot get to, is that a crime now? That one is a drug lord and this is a natural resource, but you cannot blame them; it is due to a lack of education. What connection has a miner with a drug dealer?
Q. They also said they have no record of your royalty payment…
R. I have all the records, so whatever they say mean very little. How much is transfer of license alone? They are supposed to make available of transfer of license to a company, called GSM in America, to the tune of N375million. The ministry has not given me the receipt till this day, but I have paid the money to the Federal Government.
How can I own a company and not have proof? Yet, I paid with a TIN [Tax Identification Number], so it is more dangerous for them to say this. The payment is authentic. Sadly, many of these payments do not go to the FG or the states, yet, these people want to take what you mine and the result of your labour.
Q. So far, 16 Chinese and 8 Nigerians have been apprehended for sabotaging the Nigerian economy…
R. Who authorised the arrests? They are illegal arrests. These men who call themselves governors should be servants of the people; how do servants of the people become governors? The people are the government and public officials are meant to serve. But, are they serving? All they have succeeded in doing is bringing about confusion.
Q. Dr Ojo Kola of Goetess was also declared ‘illegal’. What is your relationship with him?
R. Dr Kola is also a miner, but I have no right to talk about his company. I know him and he knows me and we have met on so many occasions. He sued the minister and the ministry, and, even, accused them of illegal mining. But the one who was called names is me.
Q. Sometime back, a law-maker, Hon Idris Maje, visited Zurak and made a report. Is it possible that his visit triggered the visit to your site?
R. You are very correct. He went there with Speaker of the House of Representatives and after their visit, they wrote to us to give them 37 copies of proof of legality. After that, the ministry’s officials came calling.
When they came, we asked them if they were aware of the visit of the lawmakers and they said they were not aware. Now, you note there that there is no communication between these people.
Now, why did Maje visit the place? He is not a member of the host community. He is from Bashar, he is no traditional ruler, he is not from the area and he is not on a committee having anything to do with mines or minerals.
His locality is hundreds of kilometres from Zurak. Yet, he visited the mines illegally. Why? What was his motive? Was he invited?
It has been 34 years since Shagari’s regime and most local governments have not changed since then. This place where I live is called ‘Shagari Estate’. What have consecutive leaders after him done? What do they have to show for their emergence and departure? Where are their legacies?
Q. We learnt that, in the community, you wanted to do some community development project, but the people insisted on the money and that is why there are no visible developments. What is the true position?
R. That is the problem. The true position is this; if the company wants to engage in physical development, it should do so directly. If you give to the people, they may not do it, they may do a quarter of it or do it haphazardly. The wisest thing is to do it yourself, as a company and, so far, I have carried out developmental projects worth over N1bn.
If you ask the people who went there to inspect mines, they went by road. They did not fly there. Ten years ago, would they have driven there? There were no roads to that place. Today, the roads stretch for over 110km and they use it gladly, whenever they come.
All rights reserved. This material and any other digital content on this platform may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, written or distributed in full or in part, without written permission from The Rock Post Publications
