Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arch. Olamilekan Adegbite Some governors have been accused of supporting the theft of national resources through illegal mining in their states. The Minister of Mines and Solid Minerals Development (MSMD), Olamilekan Adegbite and the chairman, Senate Committee on Solid Minerals, Mines, Steel Development and Metallurgy, Senator Tanko Almakura, made the allegation at an interactive session yesterday.
Adegbite said the affected governors usually provide escorts for the illegal miners to access where they are raping solid minerals in their domain.
“When they (governors) send the people to go and do this, yes, they need the police. What do you expect a mining officer to do when the state government is backing this illegal mining?”
Adegbite asked. He said the federal government had turned its attention to Russia, where it would seek expertise in the renewed effort to fix the Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Complex to diversify the economy. He said the Russians had assured of completing the project at their own cost to revive the steel complex, which has not been running at its optimal capacity for over 30 years. Responding, the committee chairman, Tanko Almakura, said some governors are also illegal miners, and advocated for a non-punitive approach to resolve the matter, which they both agreed was on the exclusive list of the government.
