By Alex Enenanna and Blessing Ola
The federal government has expressed delight with the increasing interest in Nigeria’s mining sector across the globe, a development it says was spurred by the success story of Segilola Resources Operating Limited, a company which signposts as the country’s most advanced gold project.
“I was in Australia, Saudi Arabia, London, Canada, even the United States of America, everybody wants to come to Nigeria to do mining because of what Segilola has done, a lot of news out there is negative about Nigeria, but we have your story to tell as a company that came from outside and is able to survive in Nigeria,” the Minister of Mines and Steel Development Arc. Olamilekan Adegbite was quoted in a statement by the Ministry’s Director, Press and Public Relations.
The Minister while underlining that the wealth and job creation potentials of the Nigerian mining sector has again been brought to fore expressed optimism that more foreign investors will see Nigeria as a choice country to invest.
The statement further quotes the Minister, “An Aurelian company came into Nigeria in 2021, brought some investment, and the company is about to start operation while another company which has also made imprints in Nigeria is acquiring equities right now.”
He said many other companies are at various stages of sealing a mining deal with Nigeria, including those at explorative stage and beyond.
The Minister stressed that Nigeria needs more of Segilola Resources Operating Limited, SROL to further harness numerous potentials the sector wields for the overall good of the country and its citizens.
“We need more of Segilola in Nigeria, you are the pioneer and we are happy that it is a success story because when I started going to the mining calendar events and invited them to invest in the sector, they were hesitant as they saw Nigeria as a shark infested water and wanted to see who dived in and came out first. They wanted to see how Thor Exploration will fare, your success story is out there now and everybody wants to be the next Segilola,” he said further.
He revealed that between 2021 when the company started production till now, it has paid about 1.1 billion Naira in royalties to the federal government, expressing government’s readiness to welcome more relevant investors like Segilola Resources Operating Limited.
“An increase in number of investors also leads to increase in royalties to the government and more employment for Nigerians,” the Minister further said.
He blamed the notion that Nigeria was seen as an oil and gas country as reason for hesitation of foreign interests in the country’s mining sector, a perception he said has been demystified looking at the accelerated investment in exploration through the National Integrated Mining Exploration Project (NIMEP) and its generated data.
He called on more foreign mining companies to invest in Nigeria and take advantage of the abundant mineral resources spread across the country, including Lithium, Coal, Nickel and Cobalts, and more.
The Minister also appealed for continuous cooperation between the mining companies and the host communities, stating that SROL has employed a lot of people including skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled from the neighborhood.
“They employed a lot of people, the communities are benefiting, they have gone beyond the Community Development Agreement (CDA) which is compulsory and now doing a lot under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), this should be an encouragement,” he added.
Chief Executive Officer, Segilola Resources Operating Limited, Segun Lawson appreciated the support and motivation received from the Federal Government which he believes is responsible for the success so far recorded, saying the company is not only running commercial operation but has made a lot of social impact to the communities around it.
He noted that SROL has fulfilled all promises made in the Community Development Agreement signed with the host communities, and has embarked on Corporate Social Responsibility which includes, building of markets, schools, construction of bridges, provision of scholarships and potable water among others.
Underlining some of its challenges, Lawson said illegal mining operations in fields allocated to the company still poses a problem.
He appealed for the continuous support of the Ministry and other government agencies to overcome the challenges, adding that plan is underway to expand exploration and production of gold to other states beyond Osun and spread its tentacles away from gold.
