I would love to see our solid minerals minister set foreign direct investment and production targets for 2026 designed to make the sector a big revenue earner this year

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Nigeria needs to generate about $100bn annually to fund her infrastructural development. Sadly, we only have an annual budget of about $30bn. If President Tinubu wants to break the cycle, he simply has to give his ministers production quotas and revenue targets

[2] As we look to diversity our economy, there has been a lot of talk about solid mineral extraction. Dele Alake, the solid minerals minister, should see himself as one of the messiahs who will wean Nigeria off her lazy crude oil dependency

[3] If you ask me, the solid minerals minister should be one member of the cabinet given strict foreign direct investment (FDI) and production targets. We may need to borrow a leaf from Joseph Stalin’s era whereby ministers who failed to meet their targets were sent to the gulags

[4] Putting our thinking caps on and thinking outside the box, has it occurred to us that there is a link between religious faith and solid minerals? You know why? Many religious orders hold vigils, worship and pray on mountain tops. As we all know, most of the earth’s solid minerals are located in rock formations. Has it occurred to anyone that all these prayer meetings are actually taking place on top of rich mineral deposits?

[5] Maybe Mr Alake should licence faith houses to open churches and mosques on out-of-town mountain top locations. Every licence holder most prospect for minerals on their location to ascertain if it contains any hidden gems. You may find the results staggering

[6] I do not think it is demanding too much to ask every church and mosque group in Nigeria to employ one geologist, buy two dozen pick axes and shovels and ask their young members to spend say one hour a week prospecting for solid minerals. Our ministry of solid minerals should supply heavy machinery if anything is discovered or provide high tech equipment if the geologist requires it

[7] This is a win-win for everyone as we reduce noise pollution in our urban centres, prospect for solid minerals cheaply and if anything is discovered the faith house should get to keep about 25% of all proceeds. Over the long term, faith houses should be encouraged to create investment arms that will take out stakes in these mining companies

[8] There is nothing dramatic or revolutionary about religious investment. This is how we got the Islamic Development Bank and how all those Quaker companies like Cadbury’s, Kellogg’s, Quaker Oats, etc were formed. Confectionery in particular benefitted immensely from Christian capital historically because it did not involve the production of alcohol. Christian groups saw it as an ethical industry in which to invest their capital and I think we can make a similar case for solid minerals in Nigeria

[9] In North America, coal and crushed stone are two major minerals found in the Appalachian Mountains that straddle the US and Canada. Coal is mined by a technique called mountain top removal which involves blasting away mountain tops. The removed mountain tops provide crushed stones for construction industries. There are other minor mining activities such as iron ore and gold prospecting that also take place in the Appalachian Mountains. Is there any reason why we cannot prospect for minerals this way across Nigeria?

[10] Germany, an economy built on coal, has announced that it will shut down all 84 of its coal-fired power plants to meet its international commitments in the fight against climate change. Now, Germany has some of the most experienced and sophisticated coal miners on earth who will now be made redundant as their mines shut. Nigeria should act fast and try to snap them up. If you examine German coal extraction techniques, you will be gobsmacked at how high tech they are. Maybe Nigeria should start off by granting the first 500 German miners citizenship with a mandate to get our solid minerals sector going

ayoakinfe@gmail.com