THIS DAWN — The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has once again voiced concerns over the siting of Nigeria’s gold-related developments in the South, particularly the new gold refinery in Lagos.
While their frustration about perceived regional imbalances in resource development is understandable, the NEF appears to overlook a crucial reality: success in Nigeria’s solid minerals sector, especially gold, has come from strategic planning and execution rather than mere geography or complaints.
Nigeria’s Northwest region—states like Zamfara, Kebbi, Kaduna, and Sokoto—indeed holds some of the country’s largest and most significant gold deposits, often within schist belts that have drawn attention for years.
Yet, despite this potential, the region has seen limited large-scale, formal commercial mining.
Instead, much of the activity there remains artisanal, often plagued by insecurity, illegal operations, and banditry that have deterred serious investment.
Contrast this with the Southwest.
Osun State hosts one of Nigeria’s key gold deposits and is home to the country’s first and only large-scale commercial gold mine: Segilola, operated by Thor Explorations (through Segilola Resources).
Production began with the first gold pour in July 2021, during the seventh year of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, and reached commercial levels shortly after.
This project attracted foreign investment and established formal mining structures in the region.
Under Buhari—a Northern president with no comprehensive national plan for the gold sector—key ministerial appointments in solid minerals went to Southwesterners.
These ministers appear to have seized the opportunity to advance initiatives in their home areas.
While Buhari publicly emphasized boosting artisanal mining to appeal to Northern constituencies, his administration’s actions facilitated formal developments elsewhere: Osun gained the Segilola mine, and Lagos saw the launch of Dukia Gold and Precious Metals Refining Company in 2020, Nigeria’s first precious metals refining and trading platform.
The current Tinubu administration, with its Solid Minerals Minister also from the Southwest (Dr. Dele Alake), has built on this foundation.
The Kian Smith gold refinery in Lagos—touted as a private initiative by the fully Nigerian-owned Kian Smith Group—represents a further step in creating end-to-end value chains for gold processing and trading in the South.
The government has denied direct ownership or funding, but the project’s emergence aligns with broader policies to formalize and grow the sector.
The pattern is clear: leaders from the Southwest have consistently demonstrated planning and execution in the solid minerals space.
Whether the president hails from their region or not, they advance structured investments, attract capital, and build infrastructure.
Northern leaders, by contrast, have often come to power without equivalent blueprints for leveraging their region’s abundant resources, leaving opportunities untapped amid security challenges and a focus on informal mining.
The lesson for Nigeria is straightforward: the man (or region) with the plan usually wins.
Complaining about Southern “advantages” misses the point.
Astuteness in policy, ministerial influence, and investment facilitation drives progress—not birthplace alone.
Rather than faulting others for being more proactive, Northern stakeholders, including the NEF, would do better to emulate this approach:
- Develop clear strategies,
- Prioritize security to enable investment,
- Push for formal structures, and,
- Hold their own leaders accountable for delivering results.
In a federation as diverse as Nigeria’s, regional competition can be healthy if it spurs emulation rather than resentment.
The Southwest’s gains in gold mining and refining show what deliberate planning can achieve.
The Northwest’s vast deposits await similar vision and action.
The path forward lies not in opposition, but in imitation and innovation.
