Why Isn’t Nigeria Harnessing Its 40 Commercially Viable Minerals Across All States?

Nigeria holds at least 40 commercially viable minerals spread across all 36 states. Key figures include 37 billion barrels of proven oil, 210 trillion cubic feet of gas, 200 million tonnes of iron ore, and 42 billion tonnes of bitumen—yet we still import bitumen. Gold deposits in Zamfara, Kebbi, Osun, and Niger remain underexplored or illegally mined, and once-vibrant columbite production has all but vanished. Countries with far fewer resources have built robust economies. Ghana relies on gold for over half its export revenue. Brazil dominates 90% of the world’s niobium market. Trinidad and Tobago has funded infrastructure from a single pitch lake for more than a century. Meanwhile, Ajaokuta Steel, meant to process our iron ore, has never run at full capacity since 1979. This isn’t a resources problem. Is it mismanagement, corruption, lack of political will, or something more structural?

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