The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, has said Nigeria possesses about 26 of the 60 critical minerals the United States is seeking to secure globally.
Oduwole disclosed this while fielding questions on Arise Television’s Morning Show on Tuesday.
“The U.S. have a list of 60 minerals that they’re trying to secure globally. Nigeria has about 26 of those minerals, so there’s nothing anybody’s going to take away from us without it being on our own terms,” she said.
The minister said the critical minerals framework recently signed between Nigeria and the United States was a Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, and was not legally binding.
“For the Critical Minerals framework, it’s an MOU. When you sign MOUs, first of all, they’re intentions – they are not legally binding,” Oduwole said.
According to her, the Federal Government is working to establish a complete value-addition supply chain for Nigeria’s minerals in partnership with the United States.
She said while the US was seeking to secure and support its critical minerals supply chain, Nigeria was seeking infrastructure, energy and other pathways to ensure that its mineral resources were not exported in raw form.
Oduwole said the government also wanted Nigeria to develop its minerals value chain domestically, citing lithium processing and battery manufacturing as examples.
The minister assured Nigerians that the government was not giving away the country’s mineral resources through the framework.
“So, I can tell you broadly what the content of the framework is about. It’s a framework. It’s not a specifically detailed provision at this time, and it’s an MOU. It’s not legally binding, but this is how countries negotiate. This is how, at the government-to-government level, we operate.
“We’re not giving anything. We’re not letting go of anything, and we don’t need to be afraid. We don’t need to be reactive,” she said.
Oduwole said Nigeria needed to negotiate agreements in ways that protected the interests of Nigerian businesses and maximised the benefits of its mineral resources.
She noted that Nigeria had waited too long to participate in the global critical minerals and rare earths supply chain, while other African countries, including South Africa, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone, had been mining minerals for years.
According to her, formal mining operations could provide jobs for youths in communities affected by insecurity and help reduce restiveness by providing sustainable means of livelihood.
