Kaduna State is a solid mineral base, Says Commissioner

Governor Uba Sani is repositioning the solid minerals sector to generate more revenue, create jobs, and check the activities of illegal miners in Kaduna State, by bringing in foreign investors.

The State Commissioner of Environment and Natural Resources, Abubakar Buba disclosed this at the quarterly ministerial press briefing held at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House.

He further disclosed that the Government has engaged Core International Marketing and Management Ltd to produce a Mining Development Roadmap for Kaduna State.

According to Mr Abubakar, the State Government has raked in N30 million from the mining sector within the last two quarters of last year, adding that revenue projection is higher this year.

He said that Governor Sani has established a lithium processing plant at Kangimi village along the Kaduna-Jos road, the first of its kind in Nigeria. He added that the plant has a capacity to produce more than 30,000 tonnes of lithium per day.

According to the commissioner, Kaduna State has more than 70 solid minerals, including Lithium, Gold, Tin, Coltan, Wolframite, Titanium and Iron, adding that the Kaduna Mining Development Company has acquired 18 additional mineral titles.

He said that there is ‘’tremendous reduction in the illegal mining operation in the State which is as a result of improved surveillance and the Governor’s renewed thinking.

‘’Out of the Governor’s magnanimity, he graciously agreed that we should form cooperative societies of these illegal miners, so that at the end of the day, they will still be useful to the society.

‘’They will serve as the foot soldiers for any investor that is coming, because they are the indigenes and they know the terrain better than each and every one of us,’’ the Governor argued.

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Speaking on environment and pollution control, the Commissioner said that Kaduna State has developed a State Policy on Climate Change and a position statement.

He disclosed that the State is the first sub-national that has produced both the policy and position statement in Nigeria, adding that, ‘’a lot of states have done the policy document, but Kaduna State is the first to come out with the two.’’

‘’We have trained and empowered 500 youths and women on briquette making in collaboration with Kaduna Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project,’’ he said.

Said Mr Abubakar: “In this part of the world, our people normally use firewood as a source of energy for cooking. We thought that before we ban the use of firewood for cooking and charcoal making, we need to provide an alternative to the people.

‘‘That’s the reason why the state government, in collaboration with ACReSAL, we trained over 500 women and youths on how to make briquettes,’’ he argued.

Mr Abubakar noted that ‘’briquettes can serve as a source of energy to our women and children for cooking without necessarily use burning down of our trees because the trees serve as carbon shield for humanity.’’

The Commissioner also said that Kaduna State Government distributed clean cooking stoves to 400 women and youths in collaboration with Women’s Initiative on Sustainable Environment (WISE), a Non-Governmental Organisation.

‘’This will help in reducing the emission of smoke that goes to the atmosphere, which equally distorts the ozone layer and exposes humanity to more risk,’’ he noted.

He commended Governor Sani’s efforts which has resulted in including Kaduna State ‘’into the Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas in Nigeria(HYPPADEC).’’

‘’Last year, Kaduna State was rated as the cleanest city in north-western Nigeria. This is one of the achievements that we hope to sustain. This year, we hope to be the cleanest state in Nigeria that is our target,’’ he promised.