Zamfara State Governor, Bello Mohammed, has commended the President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government for setting up a 14-member National Taskforce Committee to draft the Mining Legal Framework, that will guide mining activities in the State and other parts of the country.
The Committee which is under the Office of the National Security Adviser, in the Presidency, was inaugurated Thursday, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, by the National Security Adviser, Major-General Babagana Monguno (Rtd).
Governor Mohammed in a statement by his Director-General, Public Enlightenment, Media and Communication, Yusuf Idris, particularly noted that the development, is going to be beneficial to Zamfara State, its people and Government, as it will provide the right direction, at finding a lasting solution to the activities of terrorists and other heinous crimes, being perpetrated in the State.
It added that the Governor has made several calls at different fora, for positive, practical and workable measures to be taken on mining activities in the State.
The statement stressed that Zamfara State is blessed with a vast untapped natural endowment, hence it is important to provide guiding rules and regulations, as against the crude ways that put many of the locals at risk, with zero, or very little benefits coming to them.
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Bello lamented that big national and foreign companies are harnessing these resources, with no direct, or indirect benefit to the State, or its people.
The Governor who noted with pleasure, the inclusion of the representation of the State on the Committee, as a critical stakeholder, assured the Federal Government, that the experienced contributions to be made by the State, will strongly be advantageous, to both the miners and the Federal Government, in guiding mining activities in all parts of the nation.
The Governor is represented on the Committee by the Commissioner of Environment and Solid Mineral Development, Dr. Nura Isah Gusau. The Committee has an express mandate, to immediately screen 10 indigenous companies to mine in Zamfara State.
The terms of reference of the Committee include the development of a framework for vetting of prospectives that will undergo mining activities in Zamfara and other states in Nigeria, conducting background checks, and selection of prospective companies, forwarded by the Federal Ministry of Mines and Solid Mineral Development, for mining in Zamfara and other states in Nigeria, and conducting any other task, about the assignment given.
The NSA pledged to support the Committee, to carry out the assignment as expected, noting that some of the attendant security challenges, which necessitated the Federal Government to ban illegal mining in Zamfara State would be reduced, to enable the it to regain socio-economic development.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
