*Photo: A group of artisanal miners at work*
By Kayode Ogunbunmi
The craze to weaponise malicious propaganda in the race for the 2027 presidential polls has led to disinformation campaign against any government official and/or ministries with great public approval. This has turned the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, and indeed, the solid minerals sector in general into the bull’s eye for hirelings, hack-writers and hatchet jobbers.
Recently there has been a choreographed onslaught against the ministry and its agencies by opposition hirelings masquerading as reformers. Unlike fair-minded and objective critics who acknowledge the transformational impact of the Seven Point Agenda, criticise its implementation and proffer alternative solutions, the tribe of anarchists commence and conclude by disparaging the herculean efforts of government and calling for heads of perceived enemies .
In this reckless desperation to pull down a sector rising bravely to its challenges, no weapon of mass destruction -falsehood, fallacies, innuendoes and blatant lies – is considered too ridiculous to throw at an institution of government because the hatchet sponsors see propaganda war as their only recourse towards 2027 !
Steve Kefas article, ‘Nigeria’s Mining Sector: A Magnet for Questionable International Operators and Domestic Chaos’, is a veritable sample of a hireling going beserk. In his frenzy to satisfy his sponsors, he became blind, deaf and numb to the various unprecedented bold initiatives and policy reforms that have reinvigorated and energized the solid minerals sector within the last 2 years after decades of dormancy.
These reforms have not only increasingly sanitized the sector, but have also attracted international investments, tripled revenue inflow and boosted both local and foreign investor confidence. Many initiatives like the establishment of the Nigerian Solid Minerals Development Company, modern e-record and archiving of mineral titles, Nigerian Environmental Rehabilitation Fund, local value addition drive, establishment of the Mine Marshals, the new Decision Support System (DSS), increase in the number of titles from 6,696 to 7,696 between 2023 and 2024 and revenue that grew from N6 billion in 2023 to N38 billion in 2024 etc have become game changers in the sector !
However, a disoriented hack writer executing a preconceived political agenda would rather spew blatant lies from the pit of hell !
Start with a few: First, Nigeria did not have “one of the largest” delegations at the PDAC 2025. Three ministry officials and three heads of agencies, could not, by any stretch of imagination , be described as large. Second, overlap was a pre-digitalisation occurrence.
Since 2023, applicants on the Mining Cadastral Office’s EMC+ can see licenced and free areas based on the first to come, thus avoiding overlap of new licences. Third, it is not true that the Ministry tolerates criminals. The laws governing the licence application process includes security screening of exposed persons and tracking of possible proceeds of crime. The Police, EFCC, NFIU and even ICPC perform routine investigations of miners to ascertain compliance with the law.
Many foreign nationals found guilty have been jailed. In May, 2025, the Federal High Court, Jos jailed four Chinese nationals for illegal mining. Several others are custody, facing trial. Fourth, the introduction of the Mining Marshals has led to reduction of illegal mining operations , and improved enforcement. This negates the picture of uncontrolled insecurity that Kefas paints to suit his masters.
The allegation that the Ministry neither presents projects nor mining companies at international exhibitions is a figment of a warped imagination. Chief Executive Officers of privately – owned Nigerian mining companies such as Segun Lawson of Segilola, Abdulfatai Yahaya of Kursi, Princess Nere Emiko of Kian Smith Limited and several others participate regularly in the ministry’s programmes at international mining events. Indeed, a session on the Nigerian Mining Sector is always a regular feature of international engagements.
Kefas has published a compendium of falsehoods as truths. Contrary to his false presentation of the litigation in the case of Jupiter Mines Limited as evidence of “regulatory failure” or “regulatory capture”, it actually demonstrates the Ministry’s zero tolerance for non-compliance with the law and that foreign operators are not treated with kid gloves. Steve Davis, the promoter of Jupiter Lithium Limited, is shedding crocodile tears over the revocation of the licences of his companies for failing to comply with the law, which requires licence owners to pay annual service fees.
Section 10 (b) of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act states:“The Mining Cadastral Office shall collect an annual service fee established at a fixed rate per square cadastral. Section 11 of the Act states that a mining licence is at risk of being revoked if the holder fails to pay the required fees established by the Act.”
Davis claims he is exempted from paying these fees, arguing that a 1990 bilateral agreement between Nigeria and the United Kingdom released him from such obligations under Nigerian law. The company, through its representatives and allies, has made all efforts to browbeat and cajole ministry officials to reverse the revocation but failed woefully.
What really happened?
Davis leveraged access to the Obasanjo administration by registering five companies—Northern Numero Nigeria Limited, Comet Minerals Limited, Basin Nigeria Limited, Range Nigeria Limited, Sunrise Nigeria Limited, and Iron Ore Mining Limited. Through these, he secured over 24 licences. Basin has 10 licences: 21540EL,21541EL, 40532ML,40533ML,45117ML, 45454 ML,45452ML and 45457ML. Sunrise has 12 licences: 035432,EL, 035433EL, 035434EL, 035435EL, 035436EL, 035437EL, 035438EL, 035439EL,034367ML, 034368ML and 034369ML. Northern Numero Nigeria has 00021ML and Comet has 028297ML. These are sites for gold, lithium, marble, silver, nickel, vanadium, ilmenite, spinel, garnet, zinc, zircon, copper, cobalt, tantalum, cassiterite, niobium, beryllium and rubidium. Although one of his companies, Iron ore Mining Limited, was, by its name, specially formed to prospect for iron ore, Davis ensured that it got licences 42214EL and 42215EL to mine marble, gold, silver and lithium!
Davis’ scheme unravelled when he could not convert most exploration into mining licences due to lack of funding for geological work. The global firms he referenced distanced themselves, having found that he had no substantive exploration data. Even as Davis promoted his Nigerian ventures, diligent investors realized his projects lacked verified reserves.
Failing to renew most of his exploration licences due to unpaid fees, Davis reached a dead end. He would have continued to enjoy these undue privileges of an untouchable foreign ‘investor’ but the tables turned. Enter the Tinubu administration and the dynamics changed. The new vigor and energy injected into the sector meant no more business as usual and the environment became hot for unscrupulous operators.
The new Minister of Solid Minerals sought greater accountability. The minister requested lists of companies owing fees and holding dormant mining leases. Davis’ companies appeared on both lists, signalling intensified scrutiny.
One of Davis firms, Basin Mining Limited—which held multiple licences—failed to pay ₦1.22 billion in service fees and did not begin mining operations. As a result, its licences were revoked alongside over 2,500 others in similar default. The Minister offered a 30-day grace period, but Davis and his companies dismissed it, vowing to challenge the law.
First, Davis argued that he did not pay because illegal miners had occupied his site; however, under Nigerian law, licence holders are responsible for securing their areas. Second, he complained that the government reduced the size of his licence area; however, this was due to community disputes and, if not addressed, could have led to charges of perjury for false consent claims against him.
Finally, he referenced a bilateral investment protection agreement between Nigeria and the UK; but, this memorandum does not exempt him from his legal obligations to pay fees or comply with Nigerian mining regulations. A stark example of disregard for the law: Davis company Northern Numero failed to pay required service fees on its ML21 licence for 20 years, accruing a debt exceeding ₦5 billion !
Any passionate patriot should be on the side of Nigeria, calling on the debtor to pay what it owes the Federal Republic of Nigeria. But the same Steve Kefas – who has accused the Ministry falsely of shielding foreigners – is the same defender of a debtor foreigner trying to get away with his liabilities using malicious rhetoric and subterfuge. What an irony and contradiction from a ‘patriot’ !
Corruption in public institutions is a low hanging fruit for critics and adversaries. Understandably, Kefas could not refuse the temptation to have a bite. Yet there are no facts to support alleged corruption at the MCO. If an officer could process applications with 50 fake consent letters, he or she won’t be anonymous. Kefas should be bold enough to name the officer .
If the “speed of tenement processing has become proportional to what the applicant is willing to pay,” there should be a transaction to prove the case. To insinuate that a set of applicants get licences faster because they grease palms, a responsible whistle-blower will provide facts and figures. But the hack does not bother to ground his conclusions on logical and factual premises – believing that by merely fouling the public space with toxic messaging, he would have succeeded in casting doubt in the mind of the readers.
Contrary to the lies, the fact of the matter is that the licensing system has been sanitised. Dormant and defaulting licences are revoked and rates of fees raised to squeeze out speculators and make way for more serious investors. Of course those culprits caught are fighting back, sometimes employing hatchet jobbers to push false narratives. Last week, the ministry announced that another set of about 1,000 licences might be revoked. Jitters are already running down the spine of defaulters…like Kefas’ sponsor !
There is currently an administrative committee to resolve public complaints over mining transactions, thus raising the bar of service delivery for the sector.
To attest to the efficacy of the policy reforms which are reverberating across the African continent and the world, the African Minerals Strategy Group elected Nigeria’s minister as the chairman of the continental body – meaning that Nigeria now drives the local value addition and rejuvenating efforts for solid minerals across Africa !
There is a saying that if lies travel 20 years , truth surely catches up only in one day . The glib reference of Kefas to a Mr Colin Ikin allegedly ‘wanted’ in Zimbabwe and being embraced here is nothing short of a stupor induced hallucination. Truth is, there’s no record of any such Mr Colin’s’ application or titles in the federal ministry of solid minerals till date!
Character and image assassins unleashed by opposition elements and unlawful operators to harass and overawe the administration should know that they are on a wild goose chase and an excersise in futility.
We can only pray that as the Ministry continues to render accounts of achievements in the spirit of transparency and accountability, it will also not hesitate to use the instrument of the law to bring reckless, mischievous saboteurs abusing the rights to expression to book.