President Bola Tinubu has said that coal mining has emerged as one of Nigeria’s fastest-growing sectors, highlighting its dramatic rebound in the second quarter of 2025.
In his national broadcast on Wednesday to mark Nigeria’s 65th independence anniversary, the president noted that the sector had recovered sharply from a 22 percent decline in the first quarter to record 57.5 percent growth in the second quarter. He described this as evidence of the increasing importance of solid minerals to the nation’s economic transformation.
“The solid minerals sector is now pivotal in our economy, encouraging value-added production of minerals extracted from our soil,” Tinubu said.
He recalled that his administration had inherited what he described as a near-collapsed economy, weakened by decades of fiscal policy distortions and misalignments. According to him, the government had to make a critical choice between maintaining the status quo or embarking on painful reforms.
“As a new administration, we faced a simple choice: continue business as usual and watch our nation drift, or embark on a courageous, fundamental reform path. We chose the path of reform. We chose the path of tomorrow over the comfort of today. Less than three years later, the seeds of those difficult but necessary decisions are bearing fruit,” Tinubu stated.
The president said the reforms were beginning to yield tangible results, pointing to a 4.23 percent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate in the second quarter of 2025—Nigeria’s fastest pace in four years, exceeding the 3.4 percent projected by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He also noted that inflation had dropped to 20.12 percent in August, its lowest level in three years.
Tinubu assured Nigerians that his administration was working to further strengthen national security in order to sustain economic progress. “Security agencies are working tirelessly and making significant sacrifices to secure Nigeria. They are winning the war against terrorism, banditry, and other violent crimes,” he said.
The president’s comments also align with ongoing efforts by the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development to sanitize the mining sector. In 2024, Minister Dr. Dele Alake launched the Mining Marshals, a dedicated unit drawn from the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, to curb illegal mining activities across the country.
During the unit’s first anniversary in March 2025, Alake disclosed that the marshals had arrested 327 suspects, prosecuted 143, and reclaimed 98 mining sites from illegal operators. He also introduced a value-addition policy requiring companies to present clear plans for mineral processing before obtaining mining licences.
Analysts say the renewed focus on coal and other solid minerals could diversify Nigeria’s revenue base, reduce reliance on oil, and create thousands of jobs if well managed. However, they also stress the need for environmental safeguards and community development measures to ensure that growth in the sector benefits ordinary Nigerians.