The Minister for Solid Minerals Development, Dr Oladele Alake, has said that Nigeria is poised to derive “maximum socio- economic benefits” from a sanitised mining environment through a revised community development agreements in line with international best practices.
Alaba Balogun, the
Head of Press and Public Relations in the ministry, said in a press release that Alake made the disclosure on Thursday while launching the ministry’s Revised Guidelines for the Production of Community Development Agreements ( CDAs) in the Solid Minerals Sector, in conjunction with the African Centre For Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD) and the Ford Foundation.
He quoted the minister as acknowledging the existence of Community Development Agreements in the solid minerals sector as an instrument of promoting harmonious and mutually beneficial relationships between the mining companies and their host communities, as enshrined in the NMMA Act 2007.
Alake said: “The very essence of CDA include: to ensure that social and economic benefits of a mining project are transferred to the host Community; increased community participation throughout the life of Development project; play a valuable role in managing the expectations of stakeholders ie the mining company, the impacted communities, local and national government and non-governmental organisations.”
The minister stated that in spite of the successes recorded so far with about 252 companies that signed CDAs, teething problems of non-compliance by some operators exist coupled with non-realistic demands of communities.
These challenges, he noted, lend credence to the revised guidelines to identify and address the issues.
Alake said: “In the course of review of CDA documents submitted by the Mineral Title Holders (MTH) with their host communities over the past nine years, the ministry has identified some gaps in the existing CDA guidelines and due to numerous complaints and petitions from the communities, hence the need for review of the guidelines to meet global best practices.”
While commending the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development for collaborating with the ministry for the review, the minister said: ”The main objective of the launch is to create awareness on the importance of a community development agreement for sustainable mineral resources development in our dear country, Nigeria.”
Speaking earlier, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry of Dr Mary Ogbe, said, ”Today’s event is to formally launch the revised Guidelines for the Production of Community Development Agreements and also sensitise the mining stakeholders and general public on the need for sustainable mineral resources development in Nigeria.”
During the occasion, various partnering organisations like the African Centre for Leadership Strategy and Development, Women In Mining (WIMIN), and traditional rulers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
