The gamut of efforts by the Kwara State government to address the lingering shortage of fund, precipitated by decrease in federal allocation to the state, appears to be yielding fruit with the Emir of Gwanara in Baruten Local Government Area of the state, Alhaji Idris Sabi, asking the government to focus on mining sector.

He said the sector alone could rebound the ailing economy of the state if government mustered the needed political will by investing heavy capital in it.

Sabi noted that it had reached a point that unless passionate interest was shown, operation of mining would remain as it was years back. The second class monarch stated this while receiving the delegation of the state government in his palace at the weekend.

The delegation led by Senior Special Assistant to the state governor on Solid Minerals, Mr Sheu Abdulrahaman and his counterpart on Artisans Matters, Mr Oyelola Adetula, was at the traditional ruler's palace to intimate him of government's current drive to cluster informal miners in the state cooperative groups.

The visit to Gwanara is to be replicated in other mining and solid minerals sites across the state. Addressing the delegation, the Baruten monarch said mining had proven to be a veritable and potential sector that could change the fortune of the state in the face of dwindling revenue.

Sabi explained that it was saddening to see the level of destruction done to the land through unwholesome activities of some people at the sites where mineral resources were being excavated. He added that some people, who he did not mention, also make illicit money and live comfortably at the expense of informal miners sweat.

The monarch pointed out that sharp practices prevalent among unauthorized miners had been drastically reduced with concerted effort in the town. He said, "If government is truly ready to focus on mining sector, it needed to put something down to revive it. We must invest heavy capital in it so that at the end of the day we would recoup in manifolds."

"It is a welcome development that the state government is showing interest in this sector, which we believe would improve its IGR handsomely. "Our concern now has to do with activities of illegal miners. Many of them have ravaged the land with their operation. But through our efforts, their unwholesome practices have been reduced drastically", Emir of Gwanara said.

Speaking earlier, the SSA to the governor on Solid Minerals stated that the delegation was primarily in Gwanara to register informal miners in the bid to make their operations transparent.

He maintained that the government was also considering the opportunity provided by the sector to empower and employ more local people, thereby reducing the growing unemployment.

Abdulrahaman said the current government's drive would legalize the hitherto informal miners operations and increase the state internally generated revenue (IGR). Some of the mining sites visited included Wadata, Kubure and Mundoro, all in Gwanara district of Baruten Local Government Area of the state.