‘Women miners need exposure to huge resources in sector’

A call has been made on the need to assist women miners in the country to access the huge resources in the sector. Such assistance, it was noted, will further empower them to understand climate change impacts and advocate for Nigeria’s energy transition. A non-governmental organization, the Center for Gender Economics in Africa (CGE Africa), […]

A call has been made on the need to assist women miners in the country to access the huge resources in the sector.

Such assistance, it was noted, will further empower them to understand climate change impacts and advocate for Nigeria’s energy transition.

A non-governmental organization, the Center for Gender Economics in Africa (CGE Africa), made the call at a one-day training workshop and sensitization programme for local women miners in Ilọrin, Kwara State capital.

The programme was themed “Empowering Women in Mining to Understand Climate Change Impacts and Advocate for Nigeria’s Energy Transition”.

Speaking with Daily Trust on the sidelines of the event, Regina Solomon, Programme Manager, explained that the workshop is designed to train women in mining to harness economic opportunities in the sector through targeted policy advocacy and stakeholder engagement.

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She said the primary objective is to equip women to lead and actively participate in the energy transition.

“These women are the backbone of the sector, but lacking knowledge of the energy transition, they cannot engage strategically. By building their capacity to ask informed questions, we empower them to prompt government action on reducing energy poverty and investing in climate-change mitigation and adaptation.

“There are government funding allocations in the MDAs responsible for energy transition, and women in mining need to advocate for considerations that will support them in transitioning away from mining methods for coal, gold, and limestone that bring environmental nightmares to more sustainable resources capable of generating energy without devastating the planet”, she added.

According to the Programme Manager, the women “also need to benefit from the current energy transition, which makes mining lithium and cobalt, used for batteries to power electric vehicles and most of our phones, very lucrative.

The training, she further noted, is also designed to help deepen women in mining’s understanding of how climate change affects small-scale mining and how the ongoing energy transition opens new opportunities for them.

“This will equip you with practical knowledge and advocacy skills to strengthen your voice in your communities and decision-making spaces as you advocate for support for eco-friendly mining,” she added.

One of the facilitators of the programme, Ms. Oluwatoni Adeleke, CEO of the Olive Community Development Initiative (OCDI), explained that the workshop will benefit women by teaching them to speak collectively and advocate for their rights, thereby enabling them to receive support from the government to address their needs.

She noted that “This will empower them to become champions of the energy transition, discover emerging minerals in demand, access resources, and connect with organizations that can provide the proper support.

“Lithium is in high demand now in the international market, with a large deposit in Kwara State. Previously, we noticed that these women were still using traditional tools and were unaware of the trend. All that needs to change now,” she added.