The Federal Government of Nigeria has revealed that it has now embarked on a move to end the exportation of raw minerals in the country to aid in the diversification of the economy, job creation, and industrialisation of the country.
Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, disclosed this while briefing journalists in Abuja, today.
He lamented that Nigeria is up till now still exporting crude oil as traded for refined petroleum products.
He said the state would take advantage of the abundant solid minerals in their area to improve its revenue generation.
He said: ‘As we started this policy and this regulation essentially what we’re saying is we do not want to be exported from Nigeria. There are instances of this. We have Kaolin in Nigeria. Kaolin is something that is mined from the ground.’
Read Also: Ghana Appeals To IMF For Support Over Ailing Economy
‘What is the normal is that miners who export Kaolin abroad then the end users in Nigeria, that is the pharmaceutical the cosmetic industry, the paint industry, they now they now import this semi process Kaolin for their own use in their factory.
‘We also in the process, export our jobs out there, and we lose a lot of value. So if we’re able to have the value locally, we’ll keep the jobs we create worldwide people, which is what this policy is all about.
‘What is happening to miners who export in the raw holes. When you export something in a container for the 50 tonnes when it gets to China, their will say is 10 tonnes and you can’t argue.
‘We got the final approval. So the regulation is now official. We will discourage anybody exporting out of Nigeria. By these we are also creating a new line of business for people who don’t know what to mine. They can be processed and look as people are mining in their area, All you need to do is bring your processing plan to that place’.
Africa Daily News, New York reports that Nigerians have continued to groan under a debilitating economy which has continued to grow worse.
