Lessons for Nigeria from Africa’s artisanal mining disasters

The collapses of artisanal mines in Central Africa should serve as a warning to Nigeria as it seeks to expand its own mining industry, the article argues.

More than 200 people were reported killed after a collapse at the Rubaya coltan mining area in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in January. Another collapse in the same mineral-rich area in March killed more than 200 people, including about 70 children, according to Congolese authorities. Heavy rainfall was reported as a trigger.

In August, more than 100 people died when an artisanal gold mine at Zamboye, near the Central African Republic’s border with Cameroon, collapsed. Several tunnels reportedly gave way and caused a landslide. Rescue workers faced inadequate equipment and expertise, while continuing rain made the operation more dangerous.

The article says Nigeria faces similar risks as mining activity grows and climate change contributes to heavier rainfall. From Zamfara to Plateau, Nasarawa and Ebonyi, it identifies artisanal mining, unsafe pits, weak enforcement, limited geological information, environmental damage, poverty and poor emergency response as dangers. The central challenge, it says, is to produce mineral wealth without producing dead miners.

Rubaya also illustrates the risks created when mining operates in a conflict-affected area. The M23 rebel group has controlled the mines, and mineral extraction has become linked to the conflict’s political economy. Coltan contains tantalum, which is used in electronics and other high-value technologies. That creates a stark contrast between the global demand for advanced technology and the dangerous conditions facing some workers who extract the minerals needed to make it.