Propositions For Cross River NASS Members To The 10th NASS (I) BY AGBA JALINGO

 Opportunity Statement:

Under Governor Ayade, the Cross River State Ministry of Solid Minerals obtained exploration licenses for mineral resources from the federal government. The licenses included a quarry lease for granite, an exploration license for limestone, clay, and shale as well as a reconnaissance permit. This was and still remains a huge milestone because the Mineral Resources Act 2007 vests the total control and appropriation of mineral resources on the federal government. Getting the mining licenses was therefore a massive opening for our State to directly participate in the exploration of our natural endowment.

In February 2021, the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development announced that an artisanal and small-scale mineral processing cluster will be established in Cross River State and will be completed within six months. The Minister of State, Uche Ogar, disclosed this in Calabar while he was receiving title documents for a five-hectare land donated by the Cross River State Government in Yala LGA for the project. Under the project, the Federal Government was to embark on infrastructural development within the cluster area such as a barite processing plant, mining equipment leasing bay, training center, warehouse, and office complex among other amenities, that can potentially create over 10,000 direct jobs.

 Some Oversight Suggestions:

1. Can the Mineral Resources Act 2007 be amended to give States increased stake and access to their mineral resources? If it can, an amended bill should be drafted immediately.

2. What is the strategy for engaging with lawmakers from Ogun, Kogi, and other mineral resource-rich States, to achieve the goal of pushing the amendment through, based on shared interest?

This collaboration based on shared interest across several States will create the robust and necessary initial buy-in for the amended bill.

3. What is the oversight intervention required to push through with the Federal Ministry of Mines and Minerals, to make sure that the mineral processing cluster that was to be established in six months in Yala returns immediately?

4. Who did what and who did not do what and what was left to be done on the part of our State or the FG?

5. On whose table(s) did the files stop and to which table(s) were the files meant to go next?

6. Who is in the NASS committee which oversights the Ministry of Mineral Resources or any other relevant committee that needs to be engaged and lobbied to ensure every bottleneck is cleared for the return of the project?

These questions may lead to increased Appropriation to the Ministry to fast-track the project, as well as reveal the reasons the project was stalled and also provide the opportunity for effective oversight.

This should be led by Senator Jarigbe Agom, at the Senate, and Hon. Godwin Offiono at the House of Representatives and supported by all other NASS Members from Cross River who are going to the 10th NASS.

…To be continued…

Citizen Agba Jalingo is the Publisher of CrossRiverWatch and a rights activist, a Cross Riverian, and writes from Lagos.

NB: Opinions expressed in this article are strictly attributable to the author, Agba Jalingo, and do not represent the opinion of CrossRiverWatch or any other organization the author works for/with.