Challenges of Enforcement of Government ban of illegal Mining in Taraba State, Nigeria
Abstract
The solid mineral resource exploitation landscape in Taraba State has been dominated by the activities of small scale miners. The Nigerian government have put in place several mining laws and regulations to guide the exploitation of the solid mineral resources in the country, Taraba State inclusive. Despite this, illegal mining has been on the increase across the State. The study is anchored on the theory of the tragedy of the commons developed by Biologist Garret Hardin in 1968 to describe the issues with common property resources and the deterioration of renewable free access resources. The study adopted the qualitative research design approach using desk review of existing literature, field observations and key informant interview. Data was analyzed using the content analysis method. The findings of the study reveals that the Federal Ministry of Solid Mineral Resources does not have the capacity to effectively police the illegal mining sites in the State. So many illegal miners have been arrested over the years, many of whom were bailed and others made to pay fine. However, the enforcement of the ban on illegal mining activities has not been effective. Some of the challenges of effective enforcement of the ban include lack of adequate funding, lack of adequate manpower, difficult terrain and absence of good road network in the LGAs where illegal mining activities are taking place, high level of political connectedness and state protection the illegal miners enjoyed. Other challenges include involvement of foreign corporations in illegal mining, lack of prosecution of arrested illegal miners over the years, structural problems with Nigeria's fiscal federal system and porous nature of Nigeria’s border. Based on the findings the study recommends the need for formalization of the artisanal small scale mining activities, compelling prospective mining companies to present evidence of processing of the minerals, Nigerian government to consider amending the mining act and to deal with involvement of foreign nationals through diplomatic channels, collaboration between the federal and state governments and Nigeria government to modernize the mining sector.
Downloads
References
ThisDay Online News. https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2023/09/12/taraba-seizes-22373kg-of-blue-sapphire-arrest-over-100-illegal-miners
Ayuba, H.K. (2005). Environmental Science: An Introductory TextKaduna, Nigeria Loud
Publishers. P.56.
Boyle, M.J.(2020). What is Tragedy Of The Commons. [Online]Available at:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tragedy-of-the-commons.asp
Dixon, J.A., David, E. J. and Sharman, P.B. (1989). The Economics ofDryland Management.
Earthscan publication Ltd. London. pp. 2-39.
Eshun, M.E.(2018). Africa Center for EcononmicTranformation. [Online]
Available at: https://acetforafrica.org/highlights/ghanas-tragedy-of-the-commons-how-about-a-self-regulatory-approach-to-artisanal-mining/?fbclid=IwAR33n-
F3UgFYlXBKrdv5PR3yacwkR47JoDjdnN1kJSIz_3BGaQlH59I-
gXU#:~:text=Thus%20in%20the%20artisanal%20mining,decisions%20to%2
[Accessed 22 May 2021].
Hardin, G. (1968). The Tragedy of the Commons. [Online] Available at:
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/162/3859/1243.full.pd
Hilson, G. (2001). “Putting theory into practice: How has the gold mining industry interpreted
the conceptof sustainable development?,” Miner. Resour. Eng., vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 397–413, 2001
Hunkuyi, M. (2023). Taraba govt moves to stop illegal miners. Daily Trust News, Fri, 25 Aug
2023. https://dailytrust.com/taraba-govt-moves-to-stop-illegal-miners/
Interview (2023). Interview with Mal. Ahmed Saidu, the officer in-charge, Federal Ministry of
Solid Mineral Resources on Wednesday, 18th October, 2023 at his office along Donga Road, Jalingo, Taraba State.
Isaza, C.A.S. (2013). The Tragedy of the Commons in Artisanal Gold Mining: Evaluation of
Mechanisms of Cooperation with Simulation and Economic Experiments. A PhD thesis presented to Faculty of Engineering, Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
Leadership News (2023). Taraba Taskforce Arrests 3,500 Illegal Miners.
https://leadership.ng/taraba-taskforce-arrests-3500-illegal-miners/
Munir, A. (2023). Nigeria’s Unending Battle Against Illegal Miners Amid Dwindling Revenue.
National Economy,https://nationaleconomy.com/nigerias-unending-battle-against-illegal-miners-amid-dwindling-revenue/
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)(2020). Troops arrest 11 illegal miners, eliminate scores of
bandits. The Guardian Newspaper, 23 November 2020.
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fguardian.ng%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F11%2F12727451_img20201123103523_jpeg40a0468dee9ed1b9e325eb4727201b00.jpg&tbnid=MpRRuoY4kVR1QM&vet=1&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fguardian.ng%2Fnews%2Fnigeria%2Ftroops-arrest-11-illegal-miners-eliminate-scores-of-bandits-dhq%2F&docid=8YOiRvm09UpeOM&w=1080&h=608&hl=en-US&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim%2Fm1%2F4&shem=uvafe2
Nwangoro, N. (2023). Taraba Govt Laments Involvement Of Over 20,000 Residents In Illegal
Mining. Channel News, September 14, 2023. https://www.channelstv.com/2023/09/14/taraba-govt-laments-involvement-of-over-20000-residents-in-illegal-mining/
Nwuke, B. (2023). Illegal Miners Threaten Our Natural Resources, Take Home Billions Daily-
Taraba Govt Cries Out. Current Matters, Aug. 222. https://www.current-matters.blog/2023/08/22/illegal-miners-threaten-our-natural-resources-take-home-billions-daily-taraba-govt-cries-out/
Ogbonnaya, M. (2020). How illegal mining is driving local conflicts in Nigeria. Reliefweb
online press release, 16th June, 2020.
https://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/how-illegal-mining-driving-local-conflicts-nigeria
Ostrom, E., 1998. A behavioral approach to the rational choice theory of collective action.
American Political Science Review 92, 1-22.
Ostrom, E.(1999). Revisiting the Commons: Local Lessons, Global Challenges. [Online].
Ragnar, O., Ledeld, T. and Aune, J. (1999). Good practices in DrylandsManagement, Noragric,
Norway. pp.6-20
Rassios, A. E., 2019. Hobby Lark. [Online] Available at:
https://hobbylark.com/metal-detecting/Where-to-pan-for-gold
Sahara Reporters (2023). 11 Burkinabes Who 'Can't Speak Any Nigerian Language' Among 21
Alleged Illegal Miners Arraigned in Taraba Court. August 21, 2023 https://saharareporters.com/2023/08/21/11-burkinabes-who-cant-speak-any-nigerian-language-among-21-alleged-illegal-miners
Sarfo, R. (2021). The Historical Development of the Illegal Mining Sector inGhana: System
Dynamic Modelling Approach to Formalizing the Sector. A Master Degree thesis of the University of Bergen.
Siegel, S. and Veiga, M.M. (2010) ‘The myth of alternative livelihoods: artisanal mining,
gold and poverty’, Int. J. Environment and Pollution, Vol. 41, Nos. 3/4,pp.272–288
Taraba News (2023). Taraba Task Force Nabs 3,500 Illegal Miners. TarabaNews Newspaper,
Monday, 21 August, 2023, Vol. 03. No. 50.
Tiffen, M.,Mortimore, M. and Gichuki, F. (1994). More People, lessErosion. Environmental
Recovery in Kenya. Chichester: Wiley.
World Resources (1988/89). An assessment of the Resource Base thatSupport the Global
Economy with data tables for 146 countries.
Copyright (c) 2023 E.D. Oruonye, D.G. Musa, Y.M. Ahmed
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Author(s) and co-author(s) jointly and severally represent and warrant that the Article is original with the author(s) and does not infringe any copyright or violate any other right of any third parties, and that the Article has not been published elsewhere. Author(s) agree to the terms that the GPH Journal will have the full right to remove the published article on any misconduct found in the published article.