Investors coming to the country with their nationals to work in the solid mineral sector are responsible for Nigeria's lack of expertise in the sector, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development Diezani Allison-Madueke, has said.

She made the remark yesterday while answering questions from participants of course 18 of the National Defence College (NDC) after delivering a lecture titled "Nigeria's solid mineral resources and national development.

"Some of this investors come with their nationals, I don't want to mention names, but such practices deny our people the knowledge which means we will have to work on our policies and immigration laws so that our people can benefit also," she said.

She said that the nation has missed out on various opportunities to capitalise on the upswing of commodity prices noting that while Nigeria has a relatively virgin mineral field, but it lacked appreciable economic contribution from the sector.

She decried the lack of stable government policies concerning mining which discourage private sector participation.

She, however, said that the sector is being revitalised through new initiatives which will in turn make substantial contribution to the GDP.