The Federal Government has called for proper harmonisation of mineral resources in Nigeria to enhance its revenue and to execute more projects.
The Federal Commissioner representing Abia State at the revenue mobilisation and fiscal commission, Dr Chris Akomas made the call during a two day strategic stakeholders meeting held in Umuahia on revenue collection and the activities of miners in Abia State and local government areas organised by his office in collaboration with federal ministry of mines and steel development.
According to the former deputy governor in Abia state, the State has rich solid mineral deposit which if adequately harnessed, can boost the IGR without over dependence on monthly Federal Allocation and expressed the hope that Abia will fashion out ways to make use of the natural resources for economic growth.
His words "Chris Akomas, who noted with nostalgia that the ceramics industry in Umuahia in the state is still not functional, even after he chaired the Committee that recommissioned it years ago, attributed it to lack of leaders' inability to consolidate on the visions of forbearers".
Contributing, Abia state commissioner for finance, Dr Aham Ukoh said Abia needs a quick intervention between Aba and Port Harcourt and also decried the exclusion of the south east from the rehabilitation of the rail lines. He called on mining companies in Abia to improve their corporate social responsibilities and should look into remediation to recover the lands.
"We want to be considered in all this arrangement for all inclusiveness and full participation.
We reflect to our feelings because if we can come and don’t tell you how we feel we lie to ourselves and we deceive ourselves. so it is important when you go and say this people are debating about some of this things why don’t you include them so we want that also to be considered.
According to Dr Uko, there has to be a way to see if the mining companies will improve in their corporate social responsibility in most other areas, companies can address community issues, help to bring infrastructure in the communities and help to do environmental remediation.
His words, 'Please take a drive on the express around ubakala and see the level of devastation taking place there. They keep there trailers unless you don’t drive pass as from 9:00pm .if you see trailers lining up doing massive excavation they don’t like doing that in the day time because they don’t want people to react and all the trailers are heading out of here if you see the level of erosion going behind that location you will call for immediate intervention. What we are saying is that companies that are also managing mineral resources around here should be compelled after making their own environmental impact .
The implication is that both the government and state government should be encouraged to partner.
The truth is that the level of solid mineral is covered in some part of the country and are being managed by individuals and no body is saying anything, meanwhile our own oil is national resources but solid mineral found in other own location is a personal resource.
I have my fellow commissioners in the course of these discussions one of them said something to me that he has gold bars he was selling . He showed me and he said look this is about 20millon and I asked him where did he get it from and he said he found them in there community and I was asking if it didn’t belong to us and he said who are you ? He told me to my face who are you he said don’t come close so there are some locations in this county where this solid minerals are considered to be owned by individuals and community and we are saying that it is not fair because even the one . We are around here in Abia, I think anyone goes close to it because if you go close they will arrest you and go close to ubakala I have cause to ask them gentle men These things you are doing are not good .
In a lecture, a retired Director at the office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr Tom Nteyoho, who spoke on the topic; The Nigerian Solid Mineral Sector: Operators and Remittance of Appropriate Revenue for Economic Development in Abia, stressed the need for the sector to grow so as to reduce poverty and unemployment. Nteyoho states that the solid mineral can provide profits but needs to be given appropriate attention.
He noted that many youths have not been utilized adequately, adding that many companies are laying fallow which would have produced jobs for them.
Tom maintained that the poor remittance of money to states and local governments are the reasons why the activities of the mineral operations are not very effective in the state because of most of these problems.
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