Beyond the Ban: Why Mining Reform Is Nigeria’s Next Peacebuilding Frontier

Mar 23, 2026 | Ephraim Emah
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Nigeria’s mining sector is often described in binary terms: to some, it is a sleeping economic giant, which is key to diversifying a mono-product economy, and to others, it fuels persistent insecurity, serving as a “resource curse” that enables banditry and communal violence due to overlapping claims for resource control. These narratives often lead to a predictable policy response: when the security situation worsens, the government “pauses” activities in the sector by issuing bans and mining suspensions.