Kwara May Go The Way Of Zamfara Over Lithium Mining, Warns YPP Guber Aspirant

Young Progressives Party (YPP) governorship candidate, Wazi­ri Yakubu Gobir, has raised an alarm over mining activities in Pategi, Kwara North.

He warned that the state may soon go the way of Zamfara, suffering from banditry, insur­gencies and extremism, which security experts had since traced to global illicit mining cabals.

“It is quite sad that the state government is calling attention to this grave danger to our peo­ple,” Gobir said in Ilorin on Sun­day, during a Youth Dialogue and interaction.

Gobir said that Lithium il­legal mining was posing grave danger to the peace of people in Pategi as found out during his campaign tour to all parts of the state ahead of 2023 governorship election when he hopes to up­stage the incumbent, Governor Abdulrazak Abdulrahaman.

“When I told traditional rul­ers in this area that I was coming to campaign, I was simply giv­en some specific dates to come. Upon enquiry, I was told that the days I was asked to come were days off from mining ‘kusa’ (lith­ium).

“It is a big thing over there right now and a lot of violence is emanating from its activities. A traditional ruler told me that two cars were burnt over mining rights recently. This is how Zam­fara started,” Gobir said.

According to him, the ab­sence of transparency, infor­mation and relevant data upon which policies are made and im­plemented are reasons there is huge gulf between government and those governed.

Gobir was alluding to an ear­lier submission by Dr. Abdulla­teef Alagbonsi, coordinator of Elite Network Sustainable Development, ENetSuD, at the dialogue on highlights of the first comprehensive NEEDS analysis carried out by his or­ganization in partnership with the Gobir Foundation Organi­sation, GFO.

ENetSuD found out that no comprehensive data exists in Kwara upon which budgets and governance policies are made.