I saw this news and quickly got a hunch that the race for these rare earth minerals is not Nigeria's idea. All they are focused on is looting oil money. So who really gave them this idea to do this?
First of all, we Nigerians are not even removing our oil from the ground. Foreign companies are doing that for us. A critical sector is being handed over to foreign companies.
I am thinking the same will also happen here because I am not even sure we are capable of handling this. And even if we have expatriates who can do this, will the Nigerian government ever give it to Nigerians to mine themselves?
If eventually foreign companies take control, what percentage are we really going to earn from it? Stories about foreign companies taking the bigger share are flying around the African continent. Will that also be the fate of this new industry in Nigeria?
I bet this will also be like the oil industry, whereby we shipped oil abroad to be refined and then shipped back to Nigeria, where we paid more for what we already owned. This stopped when Dangote built his refinery. Will the same fate happen here?
Who will really benefit from this? Citizens, government, or foreign investors?
https://punchng.com/fg-backs-africas-largest-400m-rare-earth-project-in-nasarawa/?utm
