After several months of public murmurings about the not-too-clean mining activities going on around mineral resources’ sites in Osun State, Mr. Dele Alake, Minister for Solid Minerals has finally visited Ile-Ife, epicenter of such controversial mining activities, eight months after his assumption of office.

And when he did, in a better late than never manner, he suspended mining activities within the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) campus and the OAU Teaching Hospitals Complex in Ile-Ife, Osun State, indefinitely.

This, according to him, is pending investigations into suspected illegal mining activities in the area. There’s no doubt that the federal government would have lost billions of naira in that mineral endowed area and others left ineffectively attended to in the last eight months across the country.

The Minister announced the suspension shortly after meeting with the OAU management, led by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Adebayo Bamire, in Abuja on Tuesday, April 16, 2024.

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) had reportedly called for investigations into reports of illegal mining activities at OAU.

The President of NANS Senate, Segun Elvis, said the activities posed a significant threat to the safety and well-being of the institution’s students and staff.

The National Association of University Students, OAU chapter, also condemned the development and called for appropriate actions by relevant authorities to address the situation.

In response to the situation, the OAU management submitted a formal complaint to the relevant government authorities for prompt action.

Alake, however disclosed steps taken by revealing that following the reports, officials of the Nigeria Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) and the Mines Inspectorate were deployed to the institution for an on-site assessment and preliminary investigations.

“Preliminary reports that reached me indicated that there were indeed some activities around the premises. The ministry now orders stoppage of all activities, whether legal or illegal, for further investigation,” the minister said.

Alake stated that he invited the OAU authorities to his office when the illegal operators, who had been summoned by the deployed officials, presented some licenses and letters of consent regarding their activities.

He said the immediate suspension of the activities was necessary to enable the ministry verify the authenticity of the documents.