Kingsley Moghalu hails FG for denying Elon Musk’s lithium mining license

The former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Professor Kingsley Moghalu, has commended the Federal Government for the condition given to a foreign firm, Elon Musk’s Tesla, before issuing the license to mine lithium in Nigeria.

Moghalu, a former presidential aspirant of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, in a statement on Tuesday, described the Minister of Mines and Steel, Mr Olamilekan Adegbite, as his favourite minister in the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for such a step.

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“I applaud the Federal Government of Nigeria, Minister of Mines and Steel, Olamilekan Adegbite, for reportedly declining to give Elon Musk’s Tesla a license to mine lithium in Nigeria unless the company establishes a battery manufacturing facility in Nigeria to add value to lithium products before exports.

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“I am very excited by this decision which agrees with my policy advocacy when I ran for President in 2019; that foreign investors in our natural resources must create value addition in Nigeria; along with training facilities to give skills to our youth who will subsequently be employed in such value addition industries.

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“This is how we can create wealth and jobs based on natural resources as part of a larger knowledge economy. Keep it up, Minister!” Moghalu, a political economist, said.

Moghalu was the presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) in the 2019 general election.