Nigeria’s solid minerals sector has entered a new era of expansion as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced a ?1 trillion investment package-the largest in the nation’s history-to position mining as a cornerstone of the country’s economic diversification strategy.
Delivering the keynote at the 10th Nigeria Mining Week 2025 in Abuja, President Tinubu said the fund, drawn from a ?4.5 trillion increase in the 2025 national budget, will finance geoscientific exploration, detailed geological surveys, and critical infrastructure across mineral-rich regions to boost local value addition.
Represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, the President said ‘This is the single largest investment ever made in Nigeria’s mining industry,’ Tinubu declared. ‘We are determined to turn the wealth beneath our feet into prosperity in our hands.’
According to him, the sector’s revenue has jumped from ?6 billion in 2023 to ?38 billion in 2024, representing a sixfold increase attributed to improved policy coordination, oversight, and transparency.
‘We must never again allow the fate of our economy to rest on one resource,’ the President added. ‘Mining must now stand beside oil as a national growth pillar.’
Alake: Courage, Not Policy, Will Drive Growth
Dele Alake, minister of Solid Minerals Development, described solid minerals as Nigeria’s next major job-creating sector, stressing that leadership courage-not a lack of policy-has been the missing link in driving sectoral progress.
‘What we lack is not policy but courageous minds like President Tinubu’s to implement them,’ Alake said.
He noted that the Ministry under his watch has recorded 4.6% growth in sector revenue, earning recognition as one of the most transparent institutions in government.
‘Business is no longer as usual. Policy implementation must now be taken seriously if we want real growth. Local value chains must be developed, and our natural assets treated as national treasures,’ he stated, pledging that the Ministry would continue pushing until mining becomes the ‘economic pilot’ of the nation.
Steel to Anchor Industrial Revival
Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu, minister of Steel Development, reaffirmed that the revival of Nigeria’s steel sector is central to President Tinubu’s broader plan for industrialisation.
‘The steel industry is the backbone of national development. Once revived, it will power manufacturing, infrastructure, and job creation,’ Audu said, noting that new public-private partnerships are being structured to reactivate dormant steel plants and link mining to industrial output.