What in your view led to the neglect of the mining sector in the past four decades?

The problem was just simple. Nigeria went into the oil industry and thought the oil industry could provide everything always. But now, they know that with a little cough in the oil industry, the country runs into a serious financial crisis.

With the discovery of oil in the late 50s in Nigeria, it quickly assumed primacy in the country‘s economy, while the mining sector suffered a drastic reduction in its economic role. And now, we have gone from being, at one time, the world‘s largest exporter of Columbite and the sixth largest producer of Cassiterite, to a net importer of solid mineral materials for the industries.

What is the ministry doing to curb illegal mining, especially in the area of gemstones?

The first thing we did was to organise the gemstones producers and businessmen and now we have succeeded in inaugurating the Gemstone Association of Nigeria that is managed by the gemstones operators themselves. We have also formed those who participate in illegal mining, the informal miners, into cooperative groups and shown them that it is better to channel their wares through formal marketing systems instead of exporting them illegally because they were subjected to tremendous abuses even when they get overseas. They could not sell their wares because the buyers were fraudulent, but now they are happy. We have gone to the extent of giving them a lot of training. In fact, a training on how to mine gemstones properly had just been concluded. We had a resource person from the United States, who just left and he is coming back to go and stay in the fields for one month in each locations to teach them how to mine gemstones. We have imported some gemstone processing machines. Some of them have arrived and we are building a gemological centre in Jos, where we will sufficiently train gemstones miners and marketers on how to add value to the gemstones that they produce.

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development said that efforts were being made to deepen Nigerian gemstones business abroad. Can you enlighten us more on this?

The Ministry of Mines and Steel Development is focusing on Nigerian gemstones as part of the over all development initiative for the sector. Under the World Bank Assisted Sustainable Management of Mineral Resources Project, the ministry is putting in place a gemstone certification process, which also encompasses the various steps and processes distribution. In addition, the certification process is being complimented by an awareness building programme. To bring greater awareness to Nigerian gemstones, the ministry has reached an arrangement with an internationally renowned Nigerian-born jeweler, to design a jewelry line, using Nigerian gemstones. As the minister said, the line of jewelry will be displayed at both international and domestic fashion events in March 2010. The belief is that this level of awareness will militate against illegal smuggling of gemstones.

The mining sector currently contributes less than one per cent to Nigeria‘s Gross Domestic Product. If it is fully harnessed, how much can it contribute to economic development?

The mining sector should contribute up to seven per cent to Vision 2020 and this is possible because of the potentials that the industry has in the country. For example, even with the troubled global economy, the price of gold remains steady. Today, gold is over $1,000 per ounce and the first large scale gold producing quarry in the country will come up in the next one or two years in Osun state. That is the one the director of Nigerian Geological Survey Agency said it has over 600,000 ounces of gold and once we have a few of those things, I can assure you that the mining sector will contribute much to Nigeria‘s GDP. Mining, globally, contributes to the GDP because it offers much more work for the unemployed than the oil industry.

Tell us what the airborne geophysical survey of the country is all about in layman language.

Well, I don‘t know what you mean by layman language, but the project was to revitialise the mining industry and we have succeeded incredibly in the sense that if you look back four years ago where the mining industry was in this country and you look at the mining industry today, you will see that we have provided a new mining law. The mining regulations, as the minister said, will come out very soon. We also have a new mining regime and good infrastructure that can sustain the industry. We are rehabilitating the zonal offices. We have set up the mining cadastre to regulate the management of mining titles and above all, we are generating a lot of geological data which will be used not only for the mining industry, but for national planning and security.

On the whole, every thing that had been done in the mining sector so far had been in line with the Federal Government‘s vision to aggressively reform the sector through the provision of competitive fiscal and regulatory framework, institutional development, capacity building and the generation of reliable geo-scientific data that will aid mining investment.

What is the significance of the airborne geophysical data to the mining industry?

It is really the beginning because it tells you what happens right under the earth, and Nigeria is one of the very few countries of the world that have completed their airborne surveys almost up to 95 per cent and very soon we are going into the Niger Delta.

The data from the survey is useful for mineral exploration, ground water prospecting, pollution and geo-hazard monitoring. This survey also measures the Digital Elevation Model and the Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission which provide detailed information on terrains, vegetables, landforms, settlements, roads and drainages. It is very useful for general economic planning. The land form maps that are being produced are useful in road construction. It is useful in demography, because the national population commission will need it in awarding another contract. The information is also very useful in the oil industry, particular for Nigeria that is trying to explore all the basins here. It is useful in agriculture because it tells the type of soil you have in different areas. Surprisingly, the first group of people that have shown interest in the data after it was presented were the security agencies because they want the maps immediately.

How is mining licensing administered in Nigeria?

We established the mining cadastre and the main issue was that we must have a mining cadastre that is so organised and shows absolute transparency of first come, first serve and shows absolute responsibility from both government and the miners themselves, because there are certain things that the miners themselves are responsible for, like ensuring that they don‘t stay too long on their mining titles because if they do, they will just be holding on to national assets.

What is your ministry doing to entrench the exploration of coal in the country vis-à-vis the power supply crisis?

Coal is like any mineral and generally, we have been encouraging all investors including those in the coal industry. The unfortunate thing is that coal exploration is generally regarded all over the world as a very dirty industry. For example, the Obama administration is saying that you must fulfill certain conditions to explore coal and use it. But I am aware that the African countries see coal as an energy sustaining mineral. Like Nigeria, I don‘t see why we should not advocate for it. We have coal both in the north and south. I don‘t see the reason why we should not be developing our coal industry.