Oyo State, possessing a true African soil is acclaimed to be richly endowed with precambrian igneous and metamorphic rocks, which are referred to as Basement Complex. This basement complex is concentrated by pegmatites which shelters varieties of internationally recognized coloured gemstones, tantalite, granite, marble and several mineral deposits such as iron ore, columbite, gold, cassiterite, bismuth, syenite, kaolin, and talc, amongst others.

This richness and peculiarity of the available resources in the State should be an advantage, a source for revenue generation and a blessing to the residents, and to the State Government.

Engr. Seyi Makinde the executive Governor of the State has been targeting the development of the solid Mineral in the State, and has noted it as one of the quick wins to boost the internal revenue.He has expressed interest in investing in the sector in variety of ways, which includedata gathering, digitization, availability and accessibility in order to attract investors to the State. The Governor has also listed great reliance on solid minerals to finance his social interventions and welfare programmes in the State.

However, a constitutional restriction has limited the activities of the State Government to harness its peculiarities. The State and the people have to always wait on the Federal Government to get a share of their natural resources rather than being the ones to share them.

This in turn has retarded the development of the sector and limited the potential of its resources in advancing the economy of the State by eliminating direct State and local people’s participation.

This restriction has been characterized by inefficient mining techniques, use of crude implements, environmental degradation and lack of health and safety measures by artisanal miners who are informal, temporary and small-scale miners in the State that have helped in several discoveries of the richness of the State.

Ojoo in Ibadan, has been a major factor in determining prices for most minerals in Nigeria, but this as an underground market which only needs to be licensed to trade freely and taxed.

As part of the four cardinal objectives of the Seyi Makinde’s administration to make Oyo State the fastest growing economy in Nigeria, there has been a framework for the systematic development of this sector to attract local and foreign investors by situating the State as a mining destination.

For this reason, Seyi Makinde called for the delisting of mineral resource ownership from the exclusive legislative list as indicated by the constitution.

The Seyi Makinde administration has also simultaneously opened up for collaboration with the Federal Government on the mining sector as a springboard for the diversification and development of the economy, and in this gesture, provided the Federal Government with two hectares in the State for the international gemstone market.

Attention to the mining capacity of the State will help develop areas such as Iseyin, Okeho, Igboho, Saki, Ogbooro, and other solid minerals concentrated areas in the State, Oyo State as the second largest gemstone concentration in Nigeria will be characterized with a huge available raw resources market opportunities for indigenous pharmaceutical, cosmetics producers , paints manufacturers and toilet ware production it will further lead to a gateway to export markets, to create more jobs, and increase the revenue of the State.

Picture Source: Stonenews.eu

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