Defend Africa, lift up our people, Tinubu tells solid minerals ministers

By Egena Sunday Ode

President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday in Abuja asked African leaders in the solid minerals sector to be patriotic and proactive in the management of the natural wealth of the continent and combat illegal exploitation.

Speaking when he received a delegation of African Ministers of Solid Minerals under the auspices of African Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) led by the Chairman, Mr. Dele Alake, at the State House, President Tinubu urged the ministers to defend Africa against illegal exploiters of the continent’s mineral resources.

“We will lead the continent to self-realization on the value of our minerals and economic ingenuity, and this will occur as we free it from undue exploitation and abuse,’’ the President said.

In his remarks, Mr. Alake, who is the Minister of Solid Minerals, said the group was formed out of necessity and the realization of the “divide and rule tactics’’ that have weakened the negotiating power of African countries in the global market.

He explained that among the various international fora held to strategize on solid minerals in Africa, the one in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, early in the year brought up many issues, especially on the need for Africans to seize the opportunity that the global energy transition offers.

“The world needs critical metals for energy transition; green energy, and these critical metals are largely deposited in Africa. So, African nations and representatives at that Riyadh Conference came together and decided that if we do not come together and speak with one voice, then those who have exploited Africans for centuries will continue to do so,’’ the Minister stated.

Mr. Alake said “divide and rule tactics’’ have been consistently used over many years to weaken the bargaining power of African countries and the real valuation of their natural assets.

“They have been employing divide and rule tactics so all ministers in Riyadh from Africa came together and we had presentations and adopted the local value-addition policies, which have been recommended for all African countries and a number of presidents have started making pronouncements on policies along the line.

“At that Riyadh Conference, this group was formed so as to synthesize all our ideas, synergize among African countries and have, where it is feasible, uniformity of policies so that no investor can come to Nigeria that he wants to invest in a particular area, and if our terms are too stringent, he goes to Benin Republic, Congo, or Malawi, and all that.

“We saw that if we all come together to form a common policy direction, and when an investor comes to Nigeria and meets a brick wall, he will meet a brick wall in all other African countries and will be compelled to return to the first country.

“So, the issue of divide and rule which has been a mechanism used to exploit our continent for centuries will no longer be tenable,’’ the Minister said.