The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) has, on Thursday, launched an international gemstone market, the first of its kind in the country, in Ojoo, Akinyele Local Government Area, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, who was at the official commissioning of the market, described gemstone as a natural resource that could boost the economy of Oyo State, the Southwest region and Nigeria, by shoring up the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
Adegbite said the choice of Ibadan as a location for the international gemstone market is based on the rich deposits of gemstone in the state, adding that over the years, a thriving informal gemstone market had evolved in Ibadan and expressed the readiness of the FGN to exploit the resource for the benefit of all.
He explained that the project is part of the FGN’s initiative to facilitate economic recovery across the nation and stressed that the gemstone market would not only boost the Oyo State economy, but also encourage foreign investment in the Southwest region, expressing the hope that the market would create 20,000 jobs along gemstone mining value chain in the Southwestern zone.
Adegbite stated:
“The informal nature of the market gave credence to poorly regulated trading of mostly unprocessed gemstones, leading to capital flights and job losses. It is in a bid to leverage this long-standing trading experience that the decision to establish the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) Cluster International Gemstone Market in Ibadan for the Southwest Zone was mooted.”
He disclosed that at the inception of his administration, President Buhari had expressed a strong desire to encourage diversification of the national economic base and anchor his economic diversification agenda on two key sectors of Mining and Agriculture and so the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development designed six strategic ASM Cluster Projects in the six geopolitical zones as a means to harness the potentials of the over three million ASM operators in the country.
The minister said:
”The International Gemstone Market in Ibadan for the Southwest Zone is one of these projects. These landmark projects are to create an enabling environment to support the Mining Industry through the formalisation of the ASM Sub-sector as a major driver of the key growth parameters to engender the development of the Mining Sector since over 90 percent of the Mining activities in the country could safely be said to be ASM driven.”
Adegbite explained that the concept of the gemstone market was a crafted policy to spur job creation and capacity development of gemstone mining operators in Oyo State and its environs through the Economic Growth and Sustainability Plan of the Federal Government.
He also noted that the project houses several FGN initiatives geared towards curbing smuggling of gemstones and other minerals, as well as development of the capacities of the youths to actively participate in the downstream gemstone and gold value chain.
“Some of the notable envisaged outcomes from the International Gemstone Market includes but not limited to the following: Creation of over 20,000 jobs along the gemstone mining value chain in South-Western Zone cluster,” Adegbite disclosed.
The minister revealed that the market would be self-sustanining because there had been over subscription by people who wanted to have shops there, explaining that the people would pay for their shop and there would be facility managers who would ensure the facilities do not depreciate.
Adegbite, however, thanked all the stakeholders who have continued to support the ministry’s efforts to improve the Nigeria mining industry and acknowledged the support of the state government towards the realisation of the project by providing the land upon which the project was built, saying the support could not be overemphasised.
In his remark, the Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources in the state, Seun Ashamu, who represented Governor Seyi Makinde, noted that the project complements the diversification plans of the governor and would surely boost the state’s IGR.
Also in a remark, the Okere of Saki, Oba Khalid Olabisi, who spoke on behalf of traditional rulers, called for the empowerment of local miners to boost the mining industry.
Earlier, in her address of welcome, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr. Oluwatoyin Akinlade, disclosed that the project was one out of six projects embarked upon by the Ministry.
Akinlade explained that one project is located in each of the geopolitical zones of the country as part of government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic to boost the value-chain of the minerals and metals sector and to cushion the effects of the pandemic on the country’s artisanal and small miners.
