The minister urged OAU to collaborate with private investors in joint ventures, pointing out that investors could bring in capital and equipment, while the university could offer its technical expertise and generate income from its mineral resources.
“You have the resource endowment underground and you have the intellectual capacity,” Alake said. “You can bring in investors by way of a joint venture and they can provide the capital and the machinery.”
He also clarified that ownership of land did not automatically confer ownership of the mineral resources beneath it, emphasizing that mineral resources are vested in the Nigerian Government under the Constitution and relevant mining laws.
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The minister said the Nigerian Government had restructured the development of Nigeria’s bitumen resources by opening up specific bitumen blocks to competitive bidding by qualified investors.
Alake asked the OAU to boost its input in Nigeria’s mining sector, through mineral exploration, research, innovation, training and commercialization.
He highlighted the significance of closing the gap between theoretical knowledge and implementation.
Universities should not only generate knowledge; they should translate such knowledge into solutions, enterprises and economic value for society, the minister said.
Alake reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to a transparent and investment-friendly regulatory environment that encourages responsible mining, value addition and sustainable economic benefits for Nigerians.
