Alake commiserates with CAR over death of artisinal miners

By Sunny Idachaba

The reported deaths of more than 100 artisanal miners following the collapse of a gold-mining site in Zamboye, in the Central African Republic has attracted the attention of Nigeria’s minister of solid minerals development Dr Dele Alake.

He described the incident as  a profound tragedy that should trouble the conscience of the continent.

In a statement on Friday by Lara Owoeye, Alake’s special assistant on mefia, the deads were not just miners, but brothers, fathers, uncles, sons and indeed, breadwinners.  

“On behalf of the African Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG), I extend my deepest condolences to the government and people of the Central African Republic, and most especially to the families who have lost loved ones in this terrible disaster. We stand in solidarity with them at this moment of grief.

“Beyond our condolences, this tragedy must compel us to confront an uncomfortable reality: Illegal and unregulated mining is not only depriving African countries of legitimate revenues, damaging our environment and facilitating the illicit trafficking of our mineral resources. It is also putting the lives of our people at grave risk and robbing us of our virile men. 

“This tragedy is again, a painful reminder that behind every statistic about illegal mining are human beings—young men and women trying to earn a living, support their families and escape poverty.

” We must however note that no mineral is valuable enough to justify the loss of a human life.”

He said that as Africans, everyone must approach artisanal and small-scale mining with both firmness and humanity and enforce  laws against illegal mining and the criminal networks that exploit people and mineral wealth.

“We must equally create pathways for artisanal miners to operate legally, safely and productively. The African Minerals Strategy Group will continue to advocate a continental approach that strengthens regulation, improves mine-safety standards, promotes responsible formalisation of artisanal and small-scale mining, protects mining communities and ensures that Africa’s mineral wealth translates into decent livelihoods rather than preventable deaths.

“This tragedy must not become another statistic that we mourn today and forget tomorrow.” 

Africa’s mineral revolution, he said  must be a revolution that values both the mineral beneath soil and human life above it.

“We owe the victims of Zamboye more than our condolences. We owe them action.”

It could be noted that Alake spoke in his capacity as chairman Africa Mineral Strategy Group.