Conducted over a week through the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme, the capacity-building initiative concluded in Jos on Friday.
Mr. Ajasin Tokunbo, Chairman of RMAFC's Research and Development Committee, expressed concern about the solid minerals sector's low contribution to Nigeria's revenue. He attributed this to the informal nature of many sector activities.
Tokunbo highlighted the historical decline, explaining that revenue from solid minerals was significantly lower than that from hydrocarbons. He also noted that the RMAFC, in partnership with other development allies is working to reverse this trend by training and formalizing artisanal miners in Plateau State and to boost sectoral revenue for the Federation account.
“The government has been making concerted efforts to diversify the nation’s economy away from over-dependence on hydrocarbon to other sectors such as solid mineral, manufacturing, and tourism, among others, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
“The Artisanal and Small Scale Miners constitute about 80% of the Nigerian Mining sector but contribute negligibly to the federation account due to the informal nature of their operations. Hence, the federal Government is working assiduously with organizations such as the UNDP and the EU to ensure that the informal ASMs are encouraged to formalize their activities and adequately trained for utmost performance so that the country can benefit from their activities and at the same time avoid being exploited by the so-called big operators in the sector.
“These activities were aimed at identifying the challenges being experienced by the ASMs while emphasizing the need for stronger collaboration with the sub national governments towards addressing the challenges...
The United Nations Development Programme's representative in Nigeria, Mr. Mohammed Yahya, affirmed the organization's commitment to assisting Nigeria in reaching its development objectives.
