The federal government has expressed concern over the significant decline in the contribution of the mining sector to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product which fell from about 5.6 per cent it used to be 42 years ago to the current 0.33 per cent.
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr Olamilekan Adegbite, stated that the government was doing everything to diversify the economy.
He says by so doing, the government aspires to capture economic linkages, create jobs and increase revenues.
Adegbite says productivity from the Nigerian mining sector was still insufficient to meet local demands for key inputs from mining.
The minister stressed that efforts were ongoing to make sure that the illegal exportation of Nigeria’s gold to Dubai was curbed.