Sokoto State Government has acquired 35 mining licenses to facilitate extraction of solid minerals in various parts of the state.
Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto state disclosed this on Monday while receiving the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, who paid him a traditional Sallah homage at the Government Lodge 1, Sokoto.
According to him, the licenses are solely owned by Sokoto state government under the aegis of Sokoto Investment Company (SOIC) for the mining of gold and silver among other natural resources, since the state is blessed with abundant natural resources.
Tambuwal also added that the effort is part of the strategies being put place for the state to generate more revenue into its coffers, stressing that anybody wishing to partner with the state government could do so.
The governor further explained that the reason behind the transfer of the Sokoto Central Market to SOIC is to upgrade the activities of the market to a modern one with a view to generating more revenue.
He decried the current rent fees being paid by the traders, which he said, from January to date, is less than N100 million; with only N12 million generated in January while in June only N7 million was generated.
In comparison to this dismal income from the market, the state, explained the Governor, is spending over N100 million monthly on the treatment of portable drinking water supplied to the people.
This makes it imperative, he noted, for the state government to provide more ways and strategies of generating incomes so as to have more revenues, assuring that, nonetheless, the state government, in the nearest future, will stand on its feet.
On agriculture, he said the state government in collaboration with security agencies, is making frantic efforts in order to provide enough security to farmers in the state with a view to enable them perfom their farming activity without hitch.
While commenting on the ongoing projects being undertaken by the state government, the governor assured that the projects will be completed before the end of his tenure.
He thanked the Sultanate Council for the support and cooperation being given to his administration, its policies and programmes.
In his address, Sultan Abubakar said they were at the Government Lodge to pay traditional Sallah homage in order to continue strengthening the cordial working relationship between Sultanate Council and the state the government.
The Sultan commended the government for the projects being executed and called on politicians to respect people’s interest and desist from using boys for criminal activities to their benefits during the electioneering campaign and election of 2023.
The Sultan called on the youth not to allow any politician to use them to perpetrate criminal activities, just as he urged the leaders to fear Allah while discharging their duties.
The Sultan advised the state government to provide and reserve food items in case of any emergency, so that it could get what to give out at subsidized rate to the people.
