President Bola Tinubu has reiterated that Nigeria is too blessed with natural resources to remain a poor nation, urging that the country must fully harness its solid mineral potential for national prosperity.
The President made the statement on Wednesday at the 2025 Nigeria Mining Week held in Abuja. He was represented at the event by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume.
“Nigeria has no reason to be poor, given our abundant resources and talented people,” Tinubu said. “Our challenge is to harness these potentials to bring prosperity to all. Let us turn our minerals into miracles of development. ‘Minerals to Miracles’ must be our rallying cry.”
The President described the Nigeria Mining Week as “an emerging global forum generating ideas to guide the nation’s journey toward economic renewal through investor and company collaboration.” He assured that the Federal Government is committed to making mining zones across the country safe for investors, workers, and host communities.
Highlighting Nigeria’s leadership role in Africa, Tinubu added, “When our mining sector thrives, it signals that value-added resource development is Africa’s way forward.”
He noted that Africa holds about 30 per cent of the world’s known mineral reserves and major deposits of critical minerals essential to the global economy. “We must harness this wealth responsibly, ensuring that more value remains within our economies, creating jobs and industrial clusters,” the President urged.
Earlier, the Deputy Director of Communications and Stakeholders Management at the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Chris Ochonu, called on policymakers to establish a transparent and predictable regulatory framework for the solid minerals sector to attract long-term investments.
Ochonu acknowledged that although progress has been made in licensing, issues like policy overlaps and multiple taxation still discourage credible investors and slow sectoral growth.
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The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, described the nation’s mining sector as being “at a defining moment, undergoing far-reaching reforms aimed at repositioning it from a largely informal and underperforming space into a cornerstone of our economic diversification and energy transition strategy.”
Referencing NEITI’s 2023 Solid Minerals Industry Report, Dr. Orji noted that the sector’s contribution to GDP remains below 1%, despite revenues rising from ₦339.57 billion in 2022 to ₦401.87 billion in 2023.
He added, “Our data further reveal that artisanal and small-scale mining accounted for over 80% of total production volumes but contributed less than 30% of royalties paid. This underscores deep governance and structural challenges that demand urgent reform.”
Also at the event, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Oladele Alake, gave an update on reforms initiated by the Tinubu administration to transform the mining sector into a major driver of economic growth.
On the sidelines of the conference, Dr. Orji addressed a special forum organised by the Kaduna Mining Development Company, where he stressed the importance of transparency and accountability in boosting productivity, investor confidence, and sustainable impact.
He also outlined how state-owned mining companies can play a key role in implementing reforms and attracting private investment to grow sub-national economies.