The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has challenged Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, to turn its mineral and intellectual resources into a major source of institutional development and economic value.
Alake said the university could establish a world-class centre of mining excellence by combining its mineral endowment with its pool of technical and academic expertise.
The minister made the call while receiving a high-powered delegation of the university’s Governing Council led by its chairman, Professor Ralph Akinfeleye.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by Alake’s Special Assistant on Media, Lara Owoeye-Wise, the proposed centre should help close the gap between academic knowledge and the practical extraction, processing and commercialisation of Nigeria’s mineral resources.
Alake said the commercial value of mineral resources available to the university was substantial enough to reduce its reliance on government subvention as a component of its overall budget.
He therefore advised the institution to seek partnerships with private-sector investors capable of providing the capital and equipment required to develop its mineral assets.
“You have the resource endowment underground, and you have the intellectual capacity. You can bring in investors through a joint venture, and they can provide the capital and machinery,” he said.
“At the same time, the University earns revenue and your experts participate as consultants and technical partners.”
The minister noted that OAU’s technical capacity, particularly its longstanding role in training geologists and other professionals for Nigeria’s mining industry, placed it in a strong position to attract credible investors.
He urged the university to expand its involvement beyond academic training by deepening research, mineral exploration, innovation and the commercialisation of knowledge.
“The gap between intellectualism and application must be closed. Universities should not only generate knowledge; they should translate that knowledge into solutions, enterprises and economic value for society,” Alake added.
The minister also disclosed that the Federal Government had restructured the development of Nigeria’s bitumen resources by making designated bitumen blocks available for competitive bidding among qualified investors.
He, however, clarified the legal position on mineral ownership, stressing that ownership of land does not automatically confer ownership of the mineral resources beneath it.
According to Alake, mineral resources are vested in the Federal Government under the Constitution and relevant mining laws.
“The University owns the land, but where there are mineral resources, their exploration and exploitation must still be undertaken in accordance with the law,” he said.
“We must find a win-win situation that protects legitimate interests while upholding the Federal Government’s regulatory responsibility.”
Alake reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to maintaining a transparent, predictable and investment-friendly regulatory framework designed to encourage responsible mining, value addition and sustainable economic benefits for Nigerians.
Other members of the OAU delegation included Ambassador Edward Sarki, Joseph Abaagu, Professor Olatunbosun Adedayo and Yinka Ayanfola.
