The Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, says Nigeria generated two billion Naira from the sector in 2016.
The minister made the disclosure on Monday while presenting the ministry’s 2016 scorecard at a session in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
Dr. Fayemi also revealed that the revenue projection for 2017 was set at over three billion Naira.
He explained that the revenue generated in 2016 was only from royalties, which he said was not a true reflection of the ministry’s capacity.
As part of efforts to improve on revenue generation, the minister had solicited for the support of state governments to extract minerals for the development of the sector.
He said such synergy among states would save time, resources, infrastructure and cost of tapping common resources.
Dr. Fayemi noted that development in the extractive sector would only be successful if the states were turned into economic resource corridors with the realisation that minerals were not defined by boundaries.
He stressed that beyond the major challenge of getting investors to see Nigeria as a mining destination was the need for them to work together.
