Governor Seyi Makinde’s comparative advantage is his brainpower. His ability to think through complex issues and develop unconventional, albeit unimpeachable, results is mind-boggling. He dissects issues with the contemplation of a philosopher, the equanimity of a neurosurgeon, the dexterity of a scientist, the precision of an engineer, the prescience of an entrepreneur, and the altruism of a leader. Applying this in his business transformed it into a multinational organisation within a decade. Introducing the same to governance made him a trendsetter in less than a year as a state governor. The well-told story of Governor Makinde’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis in Oyo State, which became the national standard, resonates deeply.
Following in this tradition, Governor Makinde on October 24, 2023, signed two executive orders; one was on the creation of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism following the departure of the Ministry of Information, while the other was to emplace a structure for the solid mineral sector to take care of the interests of all stakeholders, especially the host communities and the environment. The two executive orders were hinged on the governor’s determination to leverage tourism and solid mineral sectors to widen the state’s economy in his second term. In his first term, Governor Makinde had grown the economy by developing infrastructure and agribusiness.
The focus of this piece is the executive order on protecting mining communities.
Oyo State has many solid minerals, such as lithium, gold, marble, gemstones, iron ore, tantalite, kaolin and talc. Oyo State has the potential to generate significant annual revenue due to the substantial deposits and superior quality of these minerals. According to a mining and exploration company report, Oyo State has what is considered Nigeria’s most significant lithium pegmatite occurrence. To underscore the growing profile of the state in the solid mineral sector, the Federal Government established the country’s first gemstone market in Ibadan in May this year to serve as a platform for buyers and sellers to meet, negotiate prices, and exchange information about the quality, origin, and processing of gemstones. So, the stage is set for a revenue haul by the state from the solid mineral sector. Through earnings from solid minerals, Oyo State is poised for an era of greater prosperity, progress, and abundance.
But that is on the one hand.
The flipside is that the twin problems of criminality and environmental degradation usually board the same bus with mineral exploitation. Solid minerals attract illicit miners just as sugar draws bees. Illegal mining births mineral trafficking, which leads to economic crimes, organised crimes, banditry, and eventually environmental degradation. So, solid mineral exploitation can breed bloodletting, agony, and poverty. The examples are too numerous; from the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, where crude oil exploration has become a curse rather than a blessing; to Zamfara State, where lead and gold mining have left the people with sorrow and poverty; to Guinea, where solid mineral exploitation has pauperised the people; to Liberia, where the struggle for control over solid minerals resulted in a civil war. More often than not, the recompense for a mineral deposit host community is grief, grief, and more grief.
But that is where leadership is lacking.
According to Murphy’s Law, whatever can go wrong will go wrong. The only way to prevent anything is to take charge of the process. That is what great leaders do. They know that the principle of cause and effect governs life. So, they take charge of the cause to determine the effect. Those who take charge of the cause determine the course of the event and the effect. Therefore, they take their destiny in their hands; they do not subject themselves to the mercies of situations and circumstances. By being proactive, they protect themselves from harmful effects.
Governor Seyi Makinde has done this with the Executive Order on solid minerals. The Executive Order has five major components: protection of the host communities from exploitation, protection of the environment from degradation, protection of residents from insecurity, collection of state-based levies and taxes, and ensuring compliance of all stakeholders with the Executive Order.
With the Executive Order now in force, all agreements reached between mineral deposit host communities and mining companies must be submitted to the state’s Mineral Deposit Agency (MDA) for transmission to the Ministry of Justice for vetting before signing by the relevant heads or community representatives. If the Ministry is satisfied with the draft agreements, the MDA will issue a letter of advice to the appropriate community. In addition, all mining companies and the host communities must submit all previously signed draft agreements to the Ministry of Justice through the MDA for documentation. This is important because no agreement between any community and a mining company is binding without the state’s seal. With this in place, host communities are guaranteed a good deal from any mining companies. Now, host communities are protected from exploitation by mining companies that may want to capitalise on a few people’s avarice to subject a whole community to penury and bondage.
The Executive Order similarly states that any holder of mineral title in Oyo State must conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before the commencement of any mining exploration or activity to assess the impact of its activities on the environment, while all holders of mineral titles already carrying out mining activities in the state must immediately conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment. It also states that all EIA carried out by holders of mineral titles shall be vetted and approved by the MDA. In addition, all holders of mineral titles are obligated to restore and reparate the land and environment as detailed in their Environmental Impact Assessment reports. The essence of this is to protect the environment from degradation. With this Executive Order, any mining company knows that it cannot abandon any mining site without restoring and rehabilitating it.
Going forward, the Executive Order also compels all holders of mineral titles operating in Oyo State to undergo checks by the MDA in collaboration with relevant security agencies in the state to verify their legal status, citizenship, and background before settlement in the communities to ensure peace and security in the communities. In addition, every mining company employee must be duly registered by the MDA and security agencies. This enables the security agencies to keep a tab on everyone working on a mining site and protect the host communities from the incidence of “unknown gunmen” or bandits.
The MDA and the Oyo State Board of Internal Revenue are to ensure the collection of all relevant state-based taxes, levies, fees, charges, etc. related to all mining entities doing business in the state. At the same time, the Ministry of Justice, Mineral Development Agency, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Oyo State Board of Internal Revenue, Local Government Councils, traditional institutions, and security agencies are mandated to ensure compliance with the Executive Order and initiate investigation and prosecution of any defaulter following the Law. So, while ensuring that the state gets its due from mining activities by putting measures in place to see that appropriate taxes and levies are paid into the state’s coffers, the government has also instituted a structure to ensure compliance and guard against anyone gaming the system.
With this Executive Order, Governor Seyi Makinde has achieved two major things. First, he has paved the way for Oyo State to reap the benefits of its natural resources without compromising the welfare of its citizens or endangering the environment. Now, the state can look forward to earning good money from its natural endowments without the blood of the citizens being spilled, a community being sacked by criminals, or the environment being degraded. Governor Makinde has demonstrated that he cares about the people he leads and that the wellbeing of the citizens forms the fulcrum of his administration. He has shown that solid mineral exploration can be done without human exploitation. He has shown that solid mineral extraction can be done without bloodletting, armed conflict, brigandage, or banditry by employing the right structures and systems.
The second thing is that Governor Makinde has also given the nation a template on how to manage natural resources for the benefit of all stakeholders without the people being ripped off or the environment being ripped apart. As it was during the COVID-19 era when Governor Makinde set the national standard, he has set another national standard in natural resources management.
In any society, leadership plays a crucial role in determining outcomes such as life or death, safety or peril, growth or decline, joy or grief, freedom or bondage, and prosperity or penury. The difference is in the ability to think differently.
*Olanrewaju is the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde.
