The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, has said that Nigeria and other African countries suffer from the under-utilisation of mineral resources despite huge deposits.
Adegbite, represented by the Director-General, Nigerian Mining Cadastre Office, Obadiah Nkom, said this at the first International Conference and Exhibitions of the Nigerian Society of Economic Geologists in Abuja.
The minister said, “Undeniably, Nigeria’s Minerals sector offers robust economic potential for diversification of the nation’s economy yet the country and indeed, many other African countries have continued to suffer under-utilisation of their mineral resources.
“This has accounted for the slow phase of socio-economic development in Nigeria and many African countries. Our country is known to operate a mono-economy where oil accounts for almost 90% of the foreign exchange earnings.”
