Illegal mining in Nigeria is wreaking havoc on local communities and the agricultural industry. According to the House of Representatives Committee on Solid Minerals, Nigeria loses approximately $9 billion annually to illegal mining. The economic impact is severe, but the environmental consequences are equally alarming.
Section 44 (3) of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Law of 1999 states that the federal government owns and controls all minerals in Nigeria and should manage such natural resources in a manner prescribed by the National Assembly. The law also grants the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development the responsibility to issue licences to operators.
Operators without a licence from this ministry are deemed to be carrying out illegal activities and may be arrested and tried in any Federal High Court. However, in the Ilesha, Itaagun, Ifewara, and Ibodi areas of Osun State, I found that many illegal miners operate in various forests, damaging the agricultural industry.
One of the staff of the illegal mining operators in Ilesha told me anonymously (because he was not authorised to speak) that his firm had dug farmlands for several months in search of gold and other natural resources.
“What we do is a perilous occupation. It is like we are digging our graves by ourselves – excavating soil in search of gold with luck determining success. We work without boots, helmets, or safety gear. After digging, we excavate the soil until we get gold. If you are lucky, you get gold; if not, you return to start digging the following day. To prevent cave-ins, we use palm trees to prop up the earth,” he said.
According to multiple local sources, illegal miners typically approach the landowners to negotiate access when a farm in Osun is suspected to contain gold deposits. The process often begins with the miners paying 30,000 naira (about $20) to “test” the land for gold. If gold is discovered, the miners then push for an agreement with the landowner, which usually involves a payment ranging from 500,000 to a million naira, depending on the size of the land.
Residents also claimed that some traditional rulers (kings) and local chiefs were major stakeholders in these illegal mining operations, allegedly receiving money from the perpetrators and sabotaging government efforts to tackle the menace. Similarly, some perpetrators reportedly use the names of influential people without their knowledge or consent.
Recently, some farmers whose source of income had been affected by illegal mining in the Ilesha area petitioned the Osun State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), urging the security agency operatives to visit various farmlands to assess the level of environmental degradation caused by the miners. They also asked the corps to stop further land excavation to prospect for mineral resources and prevent a breakdown of law and order in the area.
NSCDC spokesperson Kehinde Adeleke confirmed the petition’s receipt and told Africa in Fact that the command was doing everything possible to stop the illegal miners.
Last year, one of Nigeria’s most respected tertiary institutions, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife, Osun State, was in the news for the proliferation of illegal mining on campus, where, due to the number of tippers drawing sand from the ground, it appeared as if there was road construction work going on, unless one took a closer look.
The area where these illegal mining activities were carried out hosts several university buildings, including the institution’s junior staff quarters and the university teaching and research farm. Kazeem Olalekan Israel, a post-graduate student and a climate and environmental activist, raised an alarm via his Facebook page, citing fears that unregulated mining operations on the university campus involved using harmful chemicals such as mercury and cyanide. He argued that the chemical could contaminate rivers and groundwater, posing serious health risks to both humans and wildlife (students and staff in this case).
As more students called on authorities to address reckless mining activity on the University’s land, the Nigerian Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, ordered the suspension of mining activities within OAU and its environs. Though action by the government brought relief to the university community, Israel continued to receive threatening phone calls.
“I got several phone calls from unknown individuals asking me to pull down my articles,” Israel explained. “But I was fulfilled because if immediate action were not taken, the indiscriminate use of heavy machinery and explosives would further exacerbate environmental degradation, causing deforestation, soil erosion, and habitat destruction.”
According to research and experts, illegal mining activities lead to significant land degradation, reducing soil fertility and degrading farmland. The destruction of arable land exacerbates food insecurity, disrupting rural economies and leading to loss of livelihoods.
Agricultural economist Kingsley Ndimele said illegal mining in Osun State had caused the displacement of many farmers who’d lost their land to miners, perpetuating a cycle of poverty. “The timeframe to restore land to its pre-mining condition could span up to 100 years,” Ndimele told Africa in Fact. “Moreover, the effects of mining can extend beyond the actual mining site, resulting in pollution of virtually all the surrounding soil. The Nigerian authorities have repeatedly urged citizens to return to farming, but farmers are not protected against ravaging miners. They continue to pollute the water, causing harm to crops,” he said.
Although the Osun government inaugurated the Osun Mineral Resources and Environmental Management Committee (MIREMCO) in 2021 to tackle illegal mining in the state, the activities continue. In fact, the incumbent governor, Ademola Adeleke, announced the suspension of mining activities in the state in 2022, but locals said many operators persisted, carrying out their operations discreetly.
In July this year, Dele Alake, said the most significant challenges confronting Nigeria’s mining industry were not administrative but external, driven by individuals benefiting from illegal operations. Alake maintained that the ministry remained firm in its commitment to reforms and was drawing strength from President Bola Tinubu’s stance on accountability.
“Our hands are on the plough and there’s no looking back. No inducement can sway me at all. So, we are confronting the challenges,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the mining sector have argued that illegal mining will persist in Nigeria as long as poverty exists. According to Adeniran Ajibade, President of the Gemstone Miners and Marketers Association of Nigeria (GMMAN), managing people who resorted to scavenging for minerals at mining sites due to economic hardship was difficult.
“As long as we have poverty, there will always be people looking at how they can get something from the ground. Most of the time, when we talk about them, we refer to them as artisanal and small-scale miners, but they are highly migratory. They freelance all over the place, in the bush, and are very difficult to control,” he said.
Adejumo Kabir
Adejumo Kabir Adeniyi is a senior researcher at Good Governance Africa-Nigeria. He is an expert with many years of experience in community development work and governance accountability sector. Before joining GGA, Adejumo worked at Premium Times and HumAngle Media, two of Nigeria’s biggest newspapers specialising on conflict and accountability reporting. His work has featured on esteemed local and international platforms, including Zammagazine, El Pais, IJNet, Premium Times, HumAngle Media and TheCable among others. He is a 2019 recipient of the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence, a 2020 recipient of the Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award in the United Kingdom, and a 2021 recipient of NAREP Oil and Gas Fellowship.
