To give Nigerian youths skills, become employers of labour and generate revenue for Nigeria, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, has reiterated Federal Government’s resolve to exploit jewellery making in Nigeria.
Rather than exporting the raw materials abroad, he said, that everything would be done to process the abundant resources to finished products of jewellery and gemstone.
The Minister spoke to journalists in Abuja after inspecting finished jewellery products and facilities at the Laurel School of Mines Jewellery Centre under the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development.
He inspected the Centre with students undergoing training alongside the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr Mary Ogbe, and other key staff of the Ministry.
Despite the Ministry yet to receive warrant for expenditure for the 2025 Budget, the Minister assured that plans are on ensure every aspect of the Solid Minerals contributes positively to the Nigerian economy.
He said “Immediately money is available to start it. In fact, with this centre now, it’s encouraging to begin to attract jewellery making factories and gemstone factories. And we are going to do that.
“And this centre will be like a reservoir, a pool from where experts will be drawn to service those factories that will be coming up. So this is a very, very significant centre.” he said.
According to him, the Center is already doing a major contribution to the economy through the solid mineral sector.
“And this is one of the things that we said earlier on. We are going to improve every sector of the solid mineral space. This center is training people who are going on to train and to actually work and that’s part of the local value addition we’re talking about.
“The center now is really like doing processing, cutting all the value chain of jewelry making and that’s what we have seen here.
“So what more way can you contribute to the economy than actually producing something from our raw materials in Nigeria. Rather than taking those raw materials out for finished products, they are now being finished right here, which is a value addition.
“That’s a significant contribution to the economy, it’s going to generate employment, more employment more production and of course more revenue and then more taxes for government as well and then people will get engaged.”
The Minister was also optimistic that a lot of illegal operators will change their ways and also move into this sector through the Center.
He added “A lot of our youth that are roaming the streets, this is an opportunity for them to come and learn something, handiwork and this is more than handiwork. This is actually industrialization, when you are manufacturing, when you are producing, it is industrialization and that’s what we’re doing here.
“So it is really making significant contribution to this economy. In another year or so, we’ll be able to put figures to the production value, we will be able to say this center has contributed x amount of dollars or naira or whatever it is to the GDP of Nigeria. But overall, I’m very satisfied with what is happening here,” he stated.
On her part, the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Mary Ogbe, noted that the products from the Center can compete favorably with anyone produced abroad.
She said “I came into the sector and met the program already on and all I can say is that it’s getting better. You can see that mining is being more standardized and can compare to any one produced from any part of the world.
“So I can only say that we are making steady progress. And you saw the technology inside. They are getting very latest technologies to make sure that the quality of their products can compare to anywhere in the world. So I can just say that it’s been advancing.”
Asked how to get the National Assembly support for jewellery production in the country, she said “The National Assembly, I’m sure that we’re going to invite the chairman of our own Solid Minerals Committee to come and see here so that they can propagate it.
“They can use this to bring their people from their constituency to learn this jewelry making and by so creating jobs for them.
“And of course, when young people are engaged, you know that the insecurity in the different constituencies that makes people that they can’t even go to their villages again will go down.
“So we’re going to count on you to please blow this up so that the National Assembly can take advantage of these, members of the National Assembly to train members of their constituency.
“It doesn’t cost so much to get them trained, but for the ones training, the federal government has shouldered the responsibility. We need more hands to join us so that we can advance this cause because I think it’s a very ready, easy way of creating jobs for young people.” Dr Ogbe stated.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Laurel School of Mines, Mr.Tope Adebanjo said that the support by the Ministry to the Center has been unbelievable.
He said “Well I’m excited, the minister came, and you could see the Permanent Secretary, and they have been very, very supportive, honestly. It’s unbelievable.”
The jewellery training, he said, is being done through the collaboration of staff comprising Nigerians and Sri Lankas.
“There Nigerians and Sri Lankas, so we have been collaborating together, and we have been doing the magic,”he said.
On how long the students take to graduate, he said “Three months, twelve weeks. A few days to their graduation, they are going to Kano, funded by the government, to basically see people that have been doing this for over 30 years, 45 years.
“They didn’t have this kind of opportunity because before they got to this place, they were given starter packs. So it’s not just we train them and throw them into the market. They were given starter packs, what they are using here, were given to them so that they will be able to buy their bench and start production. So that’s part of what they are going to see in Kano in the next two weeks.”
He also said the Center is looking forward to catching children for the training programme, saying “Yes, like I said, we are looking at even the teenagers, because I was in Dubai,… I had a girl of 10 years old as my classmate. So we really want to catch them young too.”
Some students undergoing training at the Center also shared their experiences and how the training has changed their lives.
A student, Samson Haruna, said “For me, the training has been something I can’t just summarise in words, it has been full of experiences that money cannot pay. I remember when we started with master’s training, it was like advance will not be possible.
“But gradually when advanced came up it became an eye-opening for us. We discovered that beyond the bench work, we can go into the marketing of this business, we can sell gemstones, we can also add value to whatsoever thing we have.
“Even we can add value to minerals that are gotten in places in around Nigeria like Plateau State, Nasarawa State, Niger State. it’s just something i can’t summarize in words.”
Urging Nigerian youths to seize the opportunity, he said “This is an opportunity, you have an opportunity to be a pioneer in this industry. We’ve seen a lot that oil and gas have done, we’ve seen what other aspects of the economy have done, the President Ahmed Tinubu government has decided that this is an angle that they will venture in and it’s an opportunity to cash into it.”
“We want to be an entrepreneur, tomorrow let it be said that Samson Haruna is an entrepreneur of mineral value addition in Nigeria and other aspects of jewelry production,” he stated.
Another student, Mercy Thompson, representing Benue State, said “It has been a wonderful journey. We came in virtually knowing nothing about minerals, gemstones, and even jewelry. But the past three months, we’ve been able to make piece that even our family members wonder if we made them, like the last one I took home my daughter said mommy did you do this, I said yes.
“She was like wow how did you and I’m planning to share part of what I’ve gotten here with my young daughters I have two daughters and a boy and I want to say thank you to Ministry Solid Minerals, and to say thank you to Laurels they’ve pushed us out of our default mode, they’ve added so much to us with their words.
“We came not knowing that we could do the things we’ve seen ourselves do and we want to say thank you thank you to the minister thank you to the PS thank you to Mr. Tope he’s an amazing man and the team that I’m working with, I want to say thank you,” she said.
Omachile Abraham representing Nasarawa State, also a student of the Center, said “The last three months of the advanced training at Laurel School of Mines, courtesy Ministry of Solid Minerals, I would say has been monumental. It has been a wonderful experience.
“It’s one that you can’t really put into just a box. We came here earlier last year knowing nothing about jewelry making, but now we are here in the advanced class and we’ve learned techniques, we’ve learned so many things that money can’t buy.
“I can tell you for a fact that money can’t buy everything that we’ve learned here and we’re still learning. So it has really been a wonderful experience so far.”
On her advice to Nigerians, she said “My advice for Nigerians out there is that this industry is one that is still upcoming. So if you have the opportunity to come into the industry, I believe that it will be an amazing one.
“So the jewelry industry is one that is still fast growing, is still coming up. So I would urge Nigerians out there to find interest in jewelry making. It’s a wonderful industry and I believe that over time, in 10 years to come, we wouldn’t believe the value addition that the jewelry industry is going to give to the Nigerian economy.
“And I believe personally that the jewelry industry is a goldmine, good to say, that just like the petroleum industry, the jewelry industry has as much capacity as the petroleum industry in 10 years to come or even lesser,” she said.
Signed
Kania Maliki Andeyaba
Deputy Director/Head of Press and Public Relations Department
4th April, 2025
