We have a mandate to rejig Edo state mining sector – commissioner

Edo commissioner for mining and Energy, Hon Enaholo Ogiefoh has restated the state government’s commitment in revamping the mining sector.

Hon Ojiefoh made the disclosure at Igarra during a stakeholders engagement with various players in the mining industry in the locality.

He stated that his presence in Igarra with his entourage has become imperative to farmiliarise himself with traditional rulers and expose them to the several mineral deposits God has endowed them with.

He said, “The deposits in Edo North especially in Akoko-Edo can take care of Edo state for one hundred years without borrowing money from the banks or relying on the federal government monthly allocation to live”.

The commissioner decried the bad nature of Igarra road which he blamed on the nonchalant attitude of quarry owners and companies operating in the environment, adding that about ninety percent of raw materials could be sourced locally to do palliative on the road.

Hon Ojiefoh opined that Governor Obaseki has given him a marching order to work with the local government council, community heads, company owners to fashion out ways in fixing the bad roads and interface with multinational companies in the place to redesign their CDAs and CSRs for the betterment of locals.

According to him, “The community know what they want and the state have a master plan.
The new arrangement dose allow the companies to do whatever the please for the communities but what the people wanted.
The federal ministry of mines and steel, state government, local government, kingdoms and companies will work in synergy to revamp all shortfalls which hitherto has bedeviled development in this local government area”.

The commissioner noted that majority of companies operating in Akoko-Edo are not from the state even as he said they offer pee nuts to owners of land to get their consent which enabled them to own several lands.

He urged kingdoms that are enmeshed in chietaincy tussles to sheath their swords and settle out of courts to allow for development, pointing out that operators deliberately cause problems to divert attention and continue in their illegal and wicked mining activities.

Hon Ojiefoh enjoins youths and traditional rulers to key into the governor’s mindset of mining to permeates massive development in the LGA.

“Send your wards to geological universities so that upon graduation, they could handle mining activities themselves to guarantee transparency, accountability and address the lacuna associated with revenue generation as oil is gradually fading away”.

He assured of his desire to meet regularly with stakeholders to design ways of resetting mining activities in Akoko-Edo to engender economic prosperity.

“By September, we are going to carry out operation show your licence. We will also do profiling to know operators on our quarries and sites.
Record shows that operating licences of most of these operators have expired, while some are not resident here but sleep in the hotels and some, without addresses. Once they cause problems, they run away without any trace. This will no longer happen as our children will now directly work in their companies”.

The commissioner encouraged every community to register a cooperative adding that the state government is setting up one to make them have representatives and to serve as bargaining powers for negotiation with investors, while calling on Ikpeshi community to avoid multiple taxation, promising to rejig the security architecture towards making the LGA free of criminal activities.

He urged operators to join miners association of Nigeria to ensure transparency in its activities, stressing that a lot of audit would be carried out to know the data and level of mineral deposit in the LGA which he noted was very large.

Royal fathers welcomed the commissioner, pledging to cooperate with him to succeed in his enormous task, while also promising to abide by the governor’s decision on the new mining arrangement which they all acknowledged was laudable.

Present at the stakeholders engagement were the head of local government administration, Barr Dickson Ikhane, Director of mining, Mr Ikhianle Omorunyi, Representative of the federal ministry of mines and steel, Engr Raymond Naku, Functioning permanent secretary of mining and Energy, Mr. Ofemu Idemidia, Assistant commandant of NSCDC, Akinmuko Richard, royal fathers among others.