The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has cautioned the Federal goverment over what it describes as the discriminatory treatment against operators of various artisanal refineries in the Niger Delta.
The Forum in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary Ken Robinson on Wednesday says it has followed the various policy pronouncement of the goverment to legalize the activities of all those who are mining various solid minerals without any formal approvals.
“We have decided to call attention to this discriminatory practice which has continued to go on particularly arising from the Summit on Solid Minerals which was co-hosted by the Solid Minerals Development Fund and the African Finance Corporation which took place in Abuja, yesterday, Tuesday, 17th October, 2023.
After that program, it was announced amongst other things that the Fund, which is specially set up to promote the solid minerals sector will very soon extend financing interventions to cater to those who are currently operating as illegal miners. Furthermore, they will all be recognized, registered, and given licenses to improve on their current illegal and artisanal activities.
We have observed that even, in the past, illegal mining of solid mineral resources has been given an official nod at the highest levels. Especially, with the launch of the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI) in 2020. We recall how the immediate past Governor of Zamfara State, now Minister of Defence, Bello Matawalle, openly visited the Presidential Villa with large nuggets of gold, said to have been produced from his State.
Now, the federal government has decided to go one step further by apparently declaring full support for the local artisanal and illegal mining of solid minerals in the country”
PANDEF says while it acknowledges the efforts of the Federal Government to expand the national economy as the dependence on oil and gas for the past 60 years has become overbearing and unsustainable, It is shocking that the same Government continues to discriminate flagrantly against the people of the Niger Delta as their efforts to develop local technologies are tagged illegal refineries and therefore daily burnt and the operators paraded as high-level criminals.
The Forum called on President Bola Tinubu to reverse this inconsistency, more so, as it is the money from the Niger Delta that is being used to fund the efforts to regularise the activities of illegal miners.
They urged the President to correct what they described as double standard, and not allow the continued subjugation of the Niger Delta.
Editor : Ena Agbanoma
