The Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule, who made the disclosure during a courtesy visit to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake said the venture would be run through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) due to the inefficiency of government establishments in managing business.
Special Assistant on Media to Alake, Segun Tomori, stated that the governor, who did not state when the licences were obtained, said the governor who showed appreciation to the minister revealed however that “because recently, Nasarawa State obtained three licences. One is an area where there is a possibility of gold deposit, another area where there is lithium deposit, and the third site where there is tin deposit.”
The Governor reiterated that “I come from the private sector, and I understand how the public sector doesn’t become so efficient in the management of this kind of venture. So, we have PPP arrangements. Which implies we are going to have partners, and we have some level of equity participation that will ensure the state gets maximum benefits.”
The governor lauded the minister for leading the charge for the resurgence of the mining sector, noting that his visit was to brief his host on the ongoing construction of a gigantic lithium factory and also compare notes on what the ministry was doing to secure mining sites and develop the mining sector in the country.
Speaking, Alake noted that the governor had been very supportive of the solid minerals sector not because his state was a solid minerals state, but because he was an engineer.
Other northern states should stop setting on the fence and join the bandwagon of involving in the devolved energy and mining sectors. They should establish the necessary legal and institutional frameworks for participation in these sectors by first establishing the necessary legal framework via their respective states Assemblies to have the legal enabling instruments and also establish the necessary Ministries, departments and agencies for planning and implementation of much-needed development of these abundant God given natural resources for sustainable development for all their citizens and the country. Hence, other northern states that have not yet keyed into these sectors like Kebbi State should consider enacting a Executive Bills for Renewable energy development, power generation, transmission and distribution and Climate change mitigation- inclusive of desertification control and monitoring etc. etc.
Other northern states should stop setting on the fence and join the bandwagon of involving in the devolved energy and mining sectors. They should establish the necessary legal and institutional frameworks for participation in these sectors by first establishing the necessary legal framework via their respective states Assemblies to have the legal enabling instruments and also establish the necessary Ministries, departments and agencies for planning and implementation of much-needed development of these abundant God given natural resources for sustainable development for all their citizens and the country. Hence, other northern states that are yet to key into these sectors like Kebbi State and others should consider enacting a Executive Bills for Renewable energy development, power generation, transmission and distribution and Climate change mitigation- inclusive of desertification control and monitoring etc. etc.
We think so too. The North leaves a lot of opportunities, especially those under their feet, to pass them by while its leaders go after the meagre resources in the treasury.