Nigeria possesses enormous mineral resources capable of transforming the country into a global economic superpower, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, has said.
However, he warned that widespread corruption in the mining sector, illegal exploitation of natural resources and insecurity were preventing the country from maximising the economic benefits of its mineral deposits.
Olukoyede made the remarks yesterday in Ilorin, Kwara State, while delivering a public lecture and participating in a capacity-building workshop organised at the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies.
The EFCC chairman spoke on the theme, “Uprooting the roots of resource theft: A zero-tolerance approach to mining corruption and increasing insecurity in Nigeria.” He highlighted the country’s extensive mineral deposits, noting that their proper management could significantly strengthen the national economy, particularly amid growing international demand for critical minerals.
He said: “Besides oil, Nigeria is blessed with gold, lithium, tin, lead, zinc, columbite, tantalite and several other valuable minerals.
“At a time when global demand for critical minerals is increasing, particularly because of developments in technology, renewable energy and modern manufacturing, these resources should represent an important pillar of Nigeria’s economic future.
“However, mineral wealth, on its own, guarantees nothing. What determines whether it becomes a blessing or a burden is the management.
“Between October 2023 and July 2026, the Commission recorded 52 illegal-mining cases within its specialised enforcement portfolio, with investigations, prosecutions and convictions arising from that work.
“We also secured the forfeiture of 102 tonnes of solid minerals.”
He further drew attention to the relationship between illegal mining and insecurity, explaining that unregulated exploitation of mineral resources creates opportunities for criminal networks and other unlawful interests to thrive.
According to him, tackling the menace requires dismantling the entire network of individuals and interests involved in illegal mining, rather than concentrating enforcement efforts solely on those physically extracting minerals.
The EFCC boss said: “there is a close connection between resource theft and insecurity. From an enforcement perspective, any economic activity that operates substantially outside regulation creates opportunities for criminal interests.
“Therefore, dealing with illegal mining involves breaking an impregnable chain of fraudulent actors: young men carrying shovels, their financiers, buyers of the minerals, compromised officials facilitating the operation, beneficiaries from the proceeds and other actors.
“Where minerals are extracted and traded informally, where ownership is obscured, where transactions are heavily cash-based or difficult to trace, criminal networks have room to operate. Because once criminal interests begin to control economic activity in a community, the consequences can extend far beyond lost royalties.
“They can include extortion, smuggling, violence, competition over territory and the financing of other forms of criminality. This is why we must stop looking at illegal mining only as a licensing problem.
“It is an economic problem. It can become a financial and organised-crime problem. And where the proceeds sustain violence, it becomes a national-security problem.”
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