Ugwuanyi wants FG to revoke mining licences in Enugu

Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has called on the Federal Government to revoke all solid mineral mining licences in the state.
Ugwuanyi made the call while receiving the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who visited him in Enugu on Monday.
He said the call had become necessary following the neglect of various mining sites in the state.
The governor said that the state, though blessed with several mineral deposits, had nothing to show for it due to calibre of people that had the licenses.
He said that mining licenses were held by those unknown to the state government and described them as “ghost miners”.
Ugwuanyi said: “Mining leases and licenses of most of these minerals covering most parts of the state were awarded and held for years by companies which have shown no interest whatever in extracting the minerals.
“We are compelled to describe them as ghost miners because they are unknown to the state government and have not been seen anywhere near the mining fields.”
Ugwuanyi said governments at all levels were losing a lot of revenue due to nonchalant attitude and inactivity of beneficiaries of the mining fields.
According to him, all the coal mines in the state have been abandoned and have become dens of miscreants.
He said: “The vast expanse of land granted to the Nigerian Coal Corporation was disposed of and this action is generating restiveness among host communities by the day.
“This visit is auspicious and timely and it is important to the state which is richly endowed with mineral resources but paradoxically, has gained so little especially after the collapse of the coal corporation.
“We, therefore, call on the Federal Government to revoke and re-award all the licenses and leases of mining sites in the state.”
Ugwuanyi said the state government would be happy to be involved in the exploitation of all the solid minerals.
Earlier, Fayemi had said he was in Enugu as part of his nationwide tour of mining assets across the country.
He said the government was looking at abandoned assets, especially coal, which he described as priority.
The former Ekiti State Governor pointed out that solid mineral held a pride of place for the current administration.
He said coal would play significant role in terms of government’s effort to improve power generation as the mineral was capable of solving 30 per cent of energy needs of the country.
Fayemi said: “We have 13 coal mining sites in the state and some have been sold but others have not and if we go by the reserves we have, we are just scratching it on the surface.”
The minister said though mining was on the exclusive legislative list, the Federal Government wanted to collaborate with states to maximize the assets without getting into unnecessary misunderstanding.
He, however, regretted that mining infrastructure in the state had been abandoned and allowed to decay.
He said: “We were very unhappy with what we saw in the fields about the infrastructure and we are more concerned with the risk some of these landmines could course.”
He pledged the commitment of the government to work with the state to protect mining infrastructure with a view to resuscitating them.