The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, has threatened to revoke the license of mining and quarrying companies that failed to conclude Community Development Agreements (CDAs) with their host communities on or before December 31.

The deadline followed the review of the performance of licensed companies by Mining Cadastre Office (MCO) since last year on the CDA in the first six months of this year based on the report of the Mines Environmental Compliance (MEC) department of the Ministry. This decision was contained in a statement by the Special Assistant on Media to the Minister, Segun Tomori, in Abuja yesterday.

According to the statement, the MEC report showed that out of the 74 new mineral titles in the first six months of the year, only 24 community development agreements were signed.

The report further stated that in 2023, the MCO issued 960 Small Scale Mineral Licenses, 391 Quarry licenses, and 37 mining leases, totaling 1,388 titles that should proceed to sign CDAs before starting extraction. Last year, MCO issued 728 Small Scale Mining Licenses, 198 Quarry, and 28 mining leases, totaling 954 mineral titles whose owners were obliged by law to engage communities and sign CDAs before embarking on mineral operations.

But the Minister decried the wide gap between the thousands of mineral titles issued and the only 342 CDAs signed so far, underscoring the urgent need for compliance.

“Under our watch, responsible mining, marked by compliance with International Environmental, Social and Governance Standards, shall be the rule. We will not allow a situation in which companies rush to mine without first sitting down with the host communities to agree to execute projects and programmes that will address their needs.

“We have penalised companies that owed annual service fees by revoking their titles. Refusal to protect the Nigerian people by agreeing with them on what the communities will gain from the mineral exploitation of their land is criminal expropriation and an unpardonable injustice. This administration is not going to treat any company found guilty after this deadline with kid gloves.

“Their licences will not only be revoked, they will be asked to pay reparations for the minerals carted away,” Alake warned.

He then urged communities to set up quality teams comprising retired professionals who can bring their expertise to the table during negotiations and secure legacy projects and programmes to benefit the youth, women, and the community at large.

He also advised community leaders and traditional rulers not to undermine the outcome of CDA negotiations by demanding personal gifts from companies when their communities deserve much more, or recommending contractors who do shoddy projects and pocket what the communities should benefit.

The Minister commended the director of the Mines Environmental Compliance department, Dr. Vivian Okono for shutting down three companies- Istanbul, Venus, and Cornerstone last month for dragging their feet over the conclusion of Community Development Agreement negotiations with their host communities.

Alake concluded that the development “should be a good signal to others that it is no longer business as usual “