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Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, on Wednesday disclosed that the House is spearheading a legislative framework designed to transform Nigeria’s mineral sector, focusing on value addition, infrastructure development, and sustainable governance. Kalu made the submission during the presentation of the Africa Minerals Report at the Oxford Global Think Tank Leadership Conference, organised by the former Vice President of the World Bank, Ms Arunma Oteh, with the theme ‘Better Leadership for a Better Nigeria/a public presentation of her new book “All Hands on Deck: Unleash Prosperity through World Class Capital’ in Abuja. He said that the proposed roadmap emphasises shifting from mere extraction to beneficiation, including local processing, smelting, refining, and manufacturing. The Deputy Speaker added that the legislative roadmap ultimately aims to future-proof Nigeria’s economy by creating a robust framework for the mineral sector. The plan, he said, included large-scale investments in industrial power generation, regional transport corridors, and special beneficiation zones. He said, “For Nigeria and Africa, three legislative imperatives are urgent. Our laws must move from extraction to beneficiation. Africa must not remain a warehouse of unprocessed minerals. Through targeted legislation, parliament must incentivise value addition: smelting, refining, battery assembly, and materials science clusters, within our borders. “In Nigeria’s case, this means revisiting our extant mining laws to incorporate local processing obligations, green manufacturing incentives, and export value benchmarks aligned with the African Continental Free Trade Area. “The legislature must create a Critical Minerals Value Chain Framework. This requires harmonising exploration incentives, data ownership policies, and technology transfer agreements across West and Central Africa, ensuring that resource corridors, from lithium in Nasarawa state in Nigeria to copper in Zambia and cobalt in D.R. Congo, integrate seamlessly through regional infrastructure and market linkages. “We must establish a unified, rules-based governance framework that links mining, trade, energy, and finance policies under one coordinating body. “We must facilitate large-scale investment in industrial power generation, regional transport corridors, and Special Beneficiation Zones. These zones must be equipped with green power, pre-cleared permits, and essential infrastructure, all supported by well-governed sovereign wealth funds. Without reliable electricity and efficient logistics, beneficiation remains a dream. We must treat energy and infrastructure as the foundation of industrial sovereignty. “The future industrial economy will depend on who can offer firm power, stable regulations, and predictability for investors building data centres, chip foundries, and energy storage facilities. “Nigeria’s National Assembly will therefore advance frameworks that treat energy, minerals, and data governance as interconnected sovereign assets, managed transparently, sustainably, and strategically. “Our constitutional duty, as legislators, is to future-proof Nigeria’s economy. The House Committee on Solid Minerals and the Committee on Science and Technology are already collaborating on a legislative roadmap to integrate mineral exploration with clean energy and innovation policy.” The Deputy Speaker also expressed optimism that the 12 innovative bills on solid minerals currently before the House will significantly advance the sector when signed into law to enable Nigeria to compete globally in computing power, electric vehicles manufacturing, and artificial intelligence. “Under the leadership of the Tenth National Assembly, we are actively considering 12 innovative bills on solid minerals. Nigeria must rise to it with laws that combine ambition with discipline, laws that connect geology to geometry; that link rocks beneath the earth to minds above governance; that turn minerals into momentum. “Let us legislate not only for revenue, but for relevance; not just for extraction, but for industrial evolution; not merely for today’s gains, but for tomorrow’s sovereignty and economic independence,” Kalu said. ALSO READ TOP STORIES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
