The Miners Association of Nigeria has said that the Federal Government has failed to effectively implement over N11.2bn intervention funds for the mining sector.
The Acting National President of MAN, Musa Muhammad, spoke on the funding issues affecting the sector in Abuja on Wednesday at a press briefing.
He said, “the Federal Government through the CBN, NEXIM bank, BOI and other financial institutions in Nigeria have announced one intervention or the other for the Nigerian mining sector in the last decade without trace of implementation.”
He stated further that the non-availability of the intervention funds had an adverse effect on artisanal and small-scale miners who managed 90 per cent of mining activities in Nigeria.
The acting National MAN President appealed to the Federal Government to reciprocate the same level of attention and funding models similar to those in the agricultural sector.
The miners also called for the establishment of the Solid Mineral Development Bank, which would attend to the needs of miners and ensure that they have access to the funds required for the development of the sector.
They insisted that the banks could give loans to miners at a two per cent digit rate, as mining operations were capital-intensive.
The Miners called for a 100 per cent mining asset ownership policy accorded to foreign nationals to curtail insecurity in the country.
Muhammad stated that it is paramount for the Federal Government to review the policy as it had given foreigners indiscriminate access to mining locations across the country.
