The Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has raised concerns over the recently signed Nigeria-United States mineral investment framework, warning that the push to attract American capital into Nigeria’s mining sector could deepen environmental degradation and expose host communities to “another cycle of extractivism”.
The federal government and the United States signed the framework on 23 September to attract American investment into Nigeria’s estimated $700 billion mineral resources.
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The agreement was signed by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, and the US Deputy Secretary of State, Christopher Landau, on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
According to the Nigerian government, the framework intends to strengthen cooperation in mineral exploration, processing, infrastructure and technical capacity while promoting investment and value addition across Nigeria’s mineral value chain.
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Mr Alake described the signing as the beginning of a process that would involve identifying viable projects, mobilising investment and building commercial partnerships.
But in a statement shared with PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday, HOMEF said the agreement raised questions about whether the drive for critical minerals would adequately protect communities and ecosystems where the minerals are extracted.
The environmental rights organisation said minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and copper could generate serious ecological and social consequences where extraction is poorly regulated.
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It warned that mining could deplete or contaminate water sources, damage agricultural land and disrupt livelihoods, particularly in rural communities dependent on farming and other natural resources.
HOMEF Executive Director, Nnimmo Bassey, said Nigeria should not replace the environmental problems associated with oil extraction with similar problems from mineral extraction.
“We must not reproduce that environmental genocide by replacing oil with minerals while sacrificing lives, lands, and ecosystems,” Mr Bassey said.
He said the Nigeria-US agreement, if implemented without stringent safeguards, could reproduce patterns of extraction that have left communities in the Niger Delta grappling with environmental damage.
His concern is on the heels of persistent environmental disputes over Nigeria’s extractive industries.
PREMIUM TIMES has reported extensively on the continuing effects of oil extraction on communities in the Niger Delta, including pollution from ageing and abandoned oil infrastructure.
A recent PREMIUM TIMES investigation documented how residents of oil-producing communities continue to report effects including declining agricultural and fishing activities amid persistent pollution.
In another report, PREMIUM TIMES documented how abandoned oil wells continue to leak crude in Ogoniland, despite regulatory provisions requiring the decommissioning of oil facilities that have exceeded their safe operating lives.
HOMEF said the experience of the Niger Delta should inform Nigeria’s approach to mining rather than be repeated in another extractive sector.
The organisation also drew attention to the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners who died in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Minna, Niger State, in September.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the 37 detainees died after being arrested during operations against suspected illegal mining. The circumstances surrounding their deaths are being investigated by the authorities.
The federal government has constituted an independent committee to investigate the deaths, while the Niger State Government also established a judicial commission of inquiry.
Mr Bassey said the incident showed the vulnerability of poor people operating in the informal mining economy.
“We are deeply concerned that the rush to feed global demand for critical minerals will be prioritised over the livelihoods, health, and sovereignty of Nigerian communities,” he said.
Safeguards
HOMEF expressed particular concern that pressure to attract foreign investment could encourage regulators to accelerate mineral title approvals without adequate environmental and social scrutiny.
It also warned against weakening Community Development Agreements (CDAs), which provide a legal framework for ensuring that communities hosting mining operations receive social and economic benefits.
Section 116 of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act 2007 requires holders of mining and quarry leases to conclude CDAs with host communities before commencing development activities. The provision covers areas including education, employment, infrastructure, agriculture and environmental and socio-economic management.
HOMEF’s warning comes as the federal government has been emphasising greater accountability to host communities in its mining reforms.
In July, Mr Alake warned mining companies that failure to comply with CDAs could attract sanctions, including revocation of their licences, saying host communities must benefit from resources extracted from their land.
HOMEF, however, wants the government to go further by making the details of the new Nigeria-US framework available to the public.
It called on the federal government to publish the full text of the agreement and clarify its environmental, labour and fiscal obligations.
The organisation said public disclosure was necessary to enable communities, civil society organisations and other stakeholders to scrutinise how the partnership would operate and what protections would apply to communities affected by mining projects.
Nigeria has increasingly positioned critical minerals as part of its strategy to diversify away from oil.
In June, the federal government announced the discovery of deposits of platinum group metals, gold, nickel, copper, lithium and rare earth elements in Kaduna State, describing the find as a potential boost to Nigeria’s position in the global critical minerals market.
READ ALSO: Minna’s Cell of Death: Survivors recount how 37 mining suspects died in NSCDC custody
A separate report received by the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development also identified Nigeria’s lithium, copper and bauxite resources as potentially important to the global clean-energy transition, while stressing the need for the country to retain more value from its mineral resources.
HOMEF said the economic benefits of such resources should not come at the expense of communities and ecosystems.
It called on host communities, civil society groups and other stakeholders to subject the Nigeria-US mining partnership to heightened scrutiny, particularly its implications for environmental protection, community rights, labour standards and the distribution of economic benefits.
The organisation said Nigeria’s mineral resources should first serve the country’s development needs and contribute to sustainable livelihoods rather than leave communities carrying the environmental and social costs of supplying foreign industrial demand.
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