Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele
Alake, has called for the closure of schools in Nigeria that charge tuition
fees in foreign currencies, describing the practice as an economic anomaly
that undermines the value of the naira.
Speaking on Wednesday at the Nigeria Gold Day
Celebration, a side event of the 10th Nigeria Mining Week in Abuja,
Alake said such institutions contribute to the sustained pressure on the naira
by driving unnecessary demand for foreign exchange.
“I will be proposing to the Federal Executive Council
that any school operating in Nigeria and charging in dollars or pounds should
be shut down,” Alake declared.
“These are the kinds of loopholes draining our economy that many people
overlook.”
He explained that parents converting naira to dollars
locally to pay school fees directly fuel currency depreciation.
“You can’t go to the UK and open a school that charges
in naira. It simply isn’t done,” he said.
Describing the trend as one of several structural
contradictions weakening Nigeria’s economy, the minister urged a national
shift toward productivity and value generation.
Alake also highlighted ongoing reforms in the mining
sector aimed at improving transparency and boosting foreign reserves. He
pointed to the National Gold Purchase Programme (NGPP) — an initiative
enabling the government to buy gold from local artisanal miners in naira — as a
key intervention to curb foreign exchange outflows.
“We want Nigerian gold to become a credible store of
value globally,” Alake stated.
In her remarks, Hajia Fatima Shinkafi,
Executive Director of the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF), said
Nigeria’s gold exploration funding is rising, defying global downturns.
“Let’s use Nigeria Gold Day 2025 as a benchmark and
look back at this moment as a turning point for our mining industry,” she said.
The Nigeria Mining Week, held from October
13 to 15, was organized by the Miners Association of Nigeria, in
collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the VUKA Group.
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