The Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, has said the ministry established 388 mineral buying centres in 2024 to boost government revenue and curb illegal mining activities.
Mr Alake disclosed this on Monday when he appeared before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Solid Minerals during which he presented a breakdown of the ministry’s 2024 budget performance and defended its 2026 budget proposal.
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He said that, aside from establishing the mineral buying centres, the ministry also organised training sessions for artisanal miners and integrated them into the formal mining sector.
“We were able to establish about 388 mineral buying centres in the year under review and of course, we train artisanal miners,” Mr Alake said.
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For decades, Nigeria’s mining sector has operated largely informally, with a significant portion of mineral extraction carried out by artisanal and small-scale miners. Many of these miners operate outside formal regulatory frameworks, making it difficult for the government to track production volumes, enforce environmental standards, collect royalties and taxes, or curb smuggling.
Mineral buying centres are designed to address these challenges. The centres serve as designated, regulated points where miners can legally sell their mineral products to licensed buyers. By creating structured markets within mining communities, the government aims to improve transparency in mineral transactions, ensure accurate documentation of production, and block leakages in the value chain.
One of the problems in the sector has been the smuggling of high-value minerals such as gold, lithium and other critical minerals out of the country through informal channels. Without traceable sales points, much of the revenue that should accrue to the government is lost. Buying centres are therefore expected to improve traceability and accountability by providing official records of mineral sales and exports.
Illegal mining
On efforts to curb illegal mining in 2024, the minister said the ministry strengthened its surveillance task force operations.
He noted that the Mine Marshals arrested over 350 illegal miners, out of which more than 150 have been prosecuted, while others are still undergoing investigation and prosecution.
“We were able to strengthen the surveillance task force operations throughout the country and the mine marshal that we started in 2024 actually set a very strong signal to the sector and it was able to arrest a lot of illegal miners, more than 350 have been arrested by the mine marshals and over 150 have been prosecuted while others others are still undergoing prosecution. We’re not relenting,” he said.
Mr Alake also said the ministry formalised artisanal miners by encouraging them to form cooperatives so they could operate as recognised corporate entities.
“We also achieved the formalisation of artisanal miners, we encourage artisanal miners who hitherto were regarded as illegal miners but they’re actually artisanal miners and they’re very integral in the entire value chain; we call them junior miners in some instances.
“We were able to encourage them to form cooperative so that they will no longer be labelled illegal miners, they’ll become formalised structures and then they’ll become bankable and they can attract financing for themselves and then government can also demand and receive revenue in terms of royalties, tactics and civic communications, that one have been going on very encouraging as well,” he said.
Illegal mining has remained one of the most persistent challenges in Nigeria’s solid minerals sector, undermining government revenue, environmental sustainability and national security.
For years, large portions of mineral extraction, particularly gold, lithium, tin and other high-value resources, have taken place outside the formal regulatory framework. In many mining communities, individuals and groups operate without valid licences, evade royalty payments and sell minerals through informal channels, often to middlemen who smuggle them out of the country.
This has resulted in significant revenue losses for the federal government, as unrecorded production means unpaid royalties, taxes and export duties. The opacity in the sector has also made it difficult for authorities to accurately determine the volume and value of minerals extracted annually.
Beyond revenue losses, illegal mining poses serious environmental and social risks. Unregulated mining activities often lead to land degradation, deforestation, water pollution and the abandonment of unsafe pits. In some states, illegal mining has been linked to lead poisoning incidents and other public health hazards due to unsafe processing methods.
Security agencies have also expressed concerns over the nexus between illegal mining and criminal networks. In certain parts of the country, proceeds from illegal mining have reportedly fueled banditry and other forms of organised crime, further complicating the security situation in mining regions.
In response, the federal government established the mining marshals, a specialised enforcement outfit under the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), to clamp down on illegal operators, enforce compliance with mining laws and protect licensed mining sites from encroachment.
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Revenue
On the ministry’s 2024 budget performance, Mr Alake said it achieved about 80 per cent implementation of its N31.24 billion budget and generated over N28 billion in revenue.
“We recorded about 80 per cent. The revenue performance for 2024, we targeted a revenue drive of N11.8 billion but as at the end of that budgetary cycle, we were able to collect over N28 billion, so we got more than double.”
However, the minister was prevented from speaking on the ministry’s 2025 performance when Gaza Gbefwi, chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Solid Minerals, interjected.
Lawmakers subsequently requested that the Ministry of Solid Minerals be placed on the first-line charge of the federation account. Mr Alake welcomed the proposal and urged the lawmakers to support the move.
