As Nigeria marks 65 years of independence, KENNETH DARENG reflects on the country’s once-booming mining industry, which before 1960 was a major source of foreign income and a foundation for infrastructural and socio-economic growth. Today, however, the sector remains largely abandoned, raising urgent questions about whether it can be revived to diversify the nation’s economy and lift millions out of poverty
Prior to independence, the mining industry heralded a golden era. Proceeds were generated from cash cows in various parts of the country, such as coal in Enugu in the east, tin ore and columbite in Jos, Plateau State, and bitumen in commercial quantities in the south-west. These minerals contributed substantially to Nigeria’s GDP and were vigorously exploited by the British colonial government from the 1940s to the 1960s as part of its economic agenda.
Colonial foundations, lost opportunities
The colonial administration may have laid some basic foundations for physical infrastructure, yet many argue that these efforts merely served Britain’s imperial interests. Schools and small government enterprises sprang up in some communities. But with few exceptions, multinational companies existed only to channel wealth abroad. The enormous resources realised from mining camps were never deployed to build sustainable industries for Nigeria.
Instead of establishing factories to harness these potentials, the focus was on opening roads and railway lines to ease the export of mineral resources through the Atlantic Ocean to Britain. This period saw Lagos flourish as an economic hub, eventually becoming the nation’s capital before the relocation to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Oil discovery, the decline of mining
With the discovery of crude oil in 1959 and the advent of the First Republic, Nigeria’s attention shifted dramatically from mining to oil and gas. Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa introduced new reforms, including a modernised cadastre system of geographical mapping, which gave the Federal Government exclusive rights over mining activities nationwide.
Unfortunately, the oil boom of the 1960s and 1970s diverted government focus and investment away from mining. The indigenisation decree of the 1970s prompted many foreign companies to leave, leading to the creation of state-owned mining corporations. However, these were plagued by mismanagement and corruption, causing further decline.
The collapse of Balewa’s government and successive military regimes compounded the problems. From General Aguiyi Ironsi to General Yakubu Gowon, mining activities slumped, particularly during the civil war, which destabilised the economy.
Subsequent military and civilian regimes attempted to rebuild the economy by pushing diversification into solid minerals. Yet, inconsistent governance and poor policy implementation frustrated progress.
Democratic reforms, renewed glimmers of hope
With the return to democracy in 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo introduced reforms under a new policy framework. The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) was created to privatise government-owned entities, aiming to remove bottlenecks and encourage private-sector leadership.
The establishment of the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development gave further impetus, with a mandate to exploit Nigeria’s mineral wealth in a sustainable way that could create jobs and generate income.
The collapse of Nigeria’s three major oil refineries in Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt, combined with declining crude output, forced the country to consider alternatives. New discoveries of gold, lignite, lithium, wolframite, and tantalite in vast commercial quantities gave hope that, with political will, Nigeria could truly diversify its economy from oil dependency to solid minerals. Economic experts have projected that solid minerals could one day rival oil as Nigeria’s major export.
Insecurity, illegal mining, today’s challenges
Despite these potentials, mineral-rich states such as Zamfara, Niger, Taraba and Plateau have suffered a tragic twist of fate. Instead of prosperity, they have become killing fields where bandits and clandestine groups exploit the resources for personal gain. Illegal mining, often carried out with the connivance of government cronies, has left the sector uncoordinated and dominated by foreigners and artisanal miners.
Plateau State, once famed for its abundant tin ore, is a striking example. The once-thriving Amalgamated Tin Mining Company of Nigeria (ATMN), a British enterprise, has long departed. What remains are relics of a prosperous past. Mining, which once sustained entire households in Jos, has collapsed, leaving young boys and girls dropping out of school to scavenge in dangerous camps. Sadly, illegal mining has devastated farmlands, worsened poverty and created an army of unemployed youth.
A call for reflection, responsible leadership
As Nigeria clocks 65 years, this is a moment for reflection. Why has the country failed to revive its mining sector despite abundant opportunities? Why does government continue to rely almost solely on oil, which daily inflicts economic pain on its citizens?
Nigeria’s road to prosperity depends on leadership. As the late literary giant Chinua Achebe observed, “There is nothing wrong with the water we drink, nor the air we breathe, what we lack is leadership.”
To unlock the Eldorado of prosperity, Nigeria must embrace visionary leadership, genuine love for country and the political will to harness its mineral wealth. Only then can the nation turn its abandoned mining sector into a true engine of growth and transformation.
] NIGERIA @ 65
Education sector: From days of glory to turmoil
Writing on the occasion of Nigeria’s 65th independence anniversary, KENNETH DARENG examines how the country’s education sector moved from a celebrated ‘golden era’ in the 1960s–mid-1980s to its present state of turmoil. He reflects on the policies, institutions and leadership choices that built the early system and on the neglect, corruption and insecurity that have since eroded standards and access. He sets out what must be reconsidered if Nigeria is to reclaim its educational promise
From the early days of the nation’s independence in the 1960s to the mid-80s, Nigeria was once regarded as one of Africa’s powerhouses in the education sector because it inherited a buoyant educational system from Britain, its former colonial master.
That era also heralded the dawn of a new period filled with optimism and a bright future, which set the right foundation for its young leaders to begin the process of building a prosperous nation. It was on that premise that more schools were built from primary to tertiary levels across the country.
The good old days
To consolidate on what the colonial administrators laid, leaders of the First Republic under the then regional governments ignited the competitive spirit among the three geo-political zones of the country. This saw the establishment of the nation’s premier universities, with Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Premier of the Western Region, establishing the University of Ibadan; Sir Ahmadu Bello, Premier of the Northern Region, coming up with A.B.U. Zaria in the North, named after him; while Sir Michael Okpara, the then Premier of the Eastern Region, established the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
The vision of the political leaders at that time was to invest heavily in human capital development, largely anchored on the need to create the required manpower for a nation that had just gained independence from Britain. This was in realisation of the fact that socio-economic development can only be driven by a well-educated workforce, considering the urgency to catch up with other developing countries that had placed so much premium on education as a panacea for rapid growth and advancement.
Such was a reminder of the good old days when Nigeria’s journey to prosperity was made up of a strong economic boom that opened the space for a brighter future for its citizens, followed by people-oriented leadership that ushered in prosperity and orderliness.
It became Nigeria’s ‘golden era’, which signified a time of surplus and equity, and was a time when our leaders provided service-oriented leadership for the overall benefit of the people without any form of reward expectations.
It was also a time when the nation began to witness the influx of expatriate teachers from India, Europe, Canada, the U.S.A., and other parts of the world, who came to take up teaching jobs in different parts of the country.
Fortunately, those years raised the bar for high standards of education in Nigeria, which was relatively free for its citizens from primary to tertiary levels. In some public schools, pupils or students enjoyed free tuition, books, uniforms and other learning materials with a comprehensive curriculum. These included free meals, with emphasis on morale boosters based on teachers’ welfare for optimum standards as obtained in other climes of the world.
The resultant effect of good education could be seen years later with the emergence of a new crop of technocrats who represented the past glory of their alma maters in different spheres of livelihood. Most of them who occupied leadership positions, whether as military or civilians, went through public, missionary or Islamic schools, which came with high academic excellence along with high moral discipline, in order to provide a moral compass to every individual for a better future and for the good of society.
The fading promise of quality education
However, decades down the line, the narrative has changed as present-day challenges have had a negative toll on the education sector due to factors such as maladministration, massive corruption, lack of good government policies within the education sector, as well as cultural and economic issues, among others.
Nigeria is now faced with poverty and insecurity, particularly in the northern parts of the country, where the activities of Boko Haram insurgents and armed bandits have sent many children in rural communities out of school, despite efforts by governments to provide the necessary security to the schools.
Apart from the consistent government underfunding of the sector, a recent report by UNICEF indicated that many children aged 7–14 lacked basic literacy and skills. Worse still, the overall quality of education is low, with poor performance in both primary and tertiary institutions across the country.
For instance, in Plateau State during the administration of Chief Solomon Daushep Lar, between 1979 and 1983, teacher training colleges were established. These included Government Teachers’ College (GTC) Zawan, GTC Jos, GTC Jengre and GTC Amper, among others.
But today, a visit to such schools displays a sad state of their structures. Some look like abandoned old poultry farms, showing only ruins of the old glory days. The vision of the founders was made in good faith to provide the basic foundation for quality teaching, beginning with the primary schools. Sadly, that dream has now been killed, leaving those who initiated it to roll in their graves and perhaps wonder why such could happen.
Unfortunately, the change in policies, coupled with neglect and the abandonment of the old order of teacher training colleges in the state, contributed to the collapse of education. This is despite the pursuit of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme, which many also say has failed to achieve its objectives.
According to Mr Joseph Mangai, a retired school headmaster in Jos North: “Those who came up with the idea of teacher training colleges in those days truly meant well for the development of education in this part of the country, and that was what gave us the basic foundation that guided us in the choice of secondary school, up to the university.
“Today, what we have is half-baked teachers and what I can be called ‘garbage in, garbage out,’ as can be seen in the continuing decline in standards. Today, the overriding quest is for paper qualification with no knowledge to back it up. In the old days, a secondary education was good enough to fetch one a decent job simply because of its high quality. But can the same be said of present-day graduates? No.”
Corruption, exam malpractices
It is imparative to also examine what led to the failures of policies and execution in the present system. In addition, the issue of corruption, indiscipline and hi-tech fraud, which have over the years become not only systemic but endemic, must be confronted. This was revealed to a shocked country in the outcome of the JAMB High Security Advisory Group report, which was set up to investigate massive failure in WAEC and JAMB exams across the country.
The Advisory Group, otherwise known as the Opeleye Panel, came out with a mind-boggling report where parents, in their desperation, shamelessly engaged professional exam writers to write for their children using cybercrime methods.
Apart from some schools used for such malpractices, other stakeholders were indicted. That went a long way to show how cheating in exams had become new and normal. Now, you wonder how society will be able to contend with products of such crimes when they finally graduate from our universities. Obviously, this has dented the credibility of the exams bodies, while the adverse damage done to the quality of education can only be imagined.
Lessons, the way forward
As the nation celebrates its 65th independence anniversary, the big question is: what lessons can the country draw from the glory of the past and the present challenges in our march into the future?
The answer is simple: governments at all levels must go back to the drawing board and see how education was run in those good old days, what strategies and measures were put in place to provide decent education.
Therefore, for there to be any progress, there must be a deliberate effort by government to mitigate such a downward trend, which is becoming a national embarrassment. It needs to be checked and stopped, while new initiatives must be explored to tackle the increasing demand and supply of qualified teachers from the primary to tertiary levels of education.
Furthermore, it is time for governments at all levels to begin serious and massive investments in the education sector. This is because no country that aims to make giant strides in socio-economic advancement toys with its human capital development. Therein lies Nigeria’s potential, if properly harnessed.