Date: 2016-10-25

The Kwara State government has said the state should be included among beneficiaries of 13 per cent derivation fund from solid minerals. Commissioner for Industry and Solid Minerals Development Hajia Funmilayo Oniwa spoke in Ilorin at the stakeholders' forum by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAC).

Hajia Oniwa, who listed about 17 mineral resources in the state, queried the state''s exclusion as an investment destination for solid minerals development by the Nigeria Mining and Metal Sector Investment Promotion in its August brochure.

She said the state contributed to the development of the solid minerals sector as a veritable source of revenue generation into the federation account.

Oniwa noted that such a document ought to be sensitive to the mineral and investment potential of each state in view of the Federal Government's diversification campaign.

She explained that the government would restructure the mineral architecture and enact laws enhancing its capacity for improved Internally Generated Revenue. Federal Commissioner (RMAC) Revd Ajibola Fagboyegun agreed that the state is endowed with mineral resources based on facts presented, and promised that the team would visit some of its mining sites.