News Investigators/ The African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) has demanded jobs and local content in Nigeria’s critical minerals framework with the United States.
This is contained in a statement signed and issued by Joel Odigie, General Secretary of ITUC-Africa, on Thursday in Abuja.
Mr Odigie said Africa’s mineral resources must finance the continent’s development rather than reinforce dependency, stressing the need for transparent and equitable resource governance.
He said Nigeria could not replace dependence on crude oil exports with dependence on lithium, rare earths and other unprocessed mineral exports.
According to him, changing the commodity without changing the structure of extraction would not amount to economic transformation.
Odigie said the Nigeria-US critical minerals framework, signed in New York in September, reportedly covered exploration, mining, processing, infrastructure and technical capacity.
He said Nigeria’s stated objectives included local processing, skills development, job creation and increased participation of Nigerian businesses in the critical minerals value chain.
He, however, said public information on the framework remained limited, with details on specific projects, financing commitments, mineral volumes and pricing yet to be disclosed.
He said information on offtake provisions, duration, governance arrangements and enforceable domestic beneficiation obligations was also unclear.
Odigie said the widely reported 700 billion dollars represented an estimate of Nigeria’s mineral resources and not a 700-billion-dollar investment commitment by the United States.
He described the issue as one of domestic resource mobilisation, saying Africa could not continue seeking development finance abroad while surrendering revenues, industrial value and productive capacity.
Odigie said Nigeria’s large workforce, consumer base and economic size could sustain domestic industries and establish important precedents for responsible resource governance across Africa.
He said agreements involving strategic resources required legislative scrutiny, public debate and institutional oversight, questioning the extent of National Assembly consideration before advancement of the framework.
The ITUC-Africa chief called for publication of the full framework, alongside enforceable safeguards on domestic beneficiation, local content, technology transfer, decent work, taxation and public revenues.
He also demanded safeguards for environmental protection and community benefits, stressing that mineral wealth should contribute to industrialisation, decent jobs and shared prosperity.
Odigie said ITUC-Africa would sustain advocacy for transparent and equitable resource governance, guided by the African Union’s Africa Mining Vision.
He said the organisation would continue advocating domestic value addition and mineral revenues that support industrialisation, decent jobs and inclusive economic development across Africa.
NAN
