Mining pits are left unfilled, turning farmland into dangerous wastelands.
In the sprawling arid lands of Gashuwa in Fika Local Government Area of Yobe State, Abdullahi Adamu, a 46-year-old man from Gombe State, spends his days mining gypsum, unaware of the revenue loss his work causes the Nigerian government. Like many other miners, Mr Adamu works long hours and earns a modest living from selling the mineral for N350 per 25kg.
Although gypsum is primarily used in construction and agriculture, its industrial byproducts, like phosphogypsum from phosphate fertiliser production, contain trace amounts of rare earth elements (REEs). These REEs, critical for technologies in electric and hybrid vehicles, can potentially be extracted from phosphogypsum, making it a potential revenue source for Nigeria as the demand for energy transition minerals grows.
On a good day, Mr Adamu mines 50 pans of gypsum. However, on less productive days, he manages to mine only 15 pans. "When the gypsum is processed and cleaned, we sell each pan (about 25kg) for N850, but it goes through a tedious process to reach that level of quality," he explained.
Mr Adamu believes the gypsum deposit is a blessing from God. He sees mining as his primary means of providing for his family, having travelled from Gombe to earn a living in Gashua's gypsum mines. This is a widely held belief by locals that natural resources like gypsum belong to everyone.
What Mr Adamu does not realise is that the poorly regulated nature of the gypsum mining industry in the area is costing the Nigerian government millions in potential revenue.
For decades, locals and businesses have mined the gypsum deposits in Gashuwa, largely unauthorised. The unauthorised activities not only rob the government of tax revenue but also create a chaotic industry lacking accountability, regulation, and safety protocols. Miners, such as Mr Adamu, are often unaware of tax obligations, and a significant portion of the gypsum extracted goes untaxed.
Local sources indicate that approximately 300 trucks of gypsum have been mined in the past year in Gashuwa, but only about 100 trucks have paid the required taxes, leaving a massive revenue gap that undermines national development efforts.
Gypsum, a mineral critical for various industries like cement production and agriculture, plays an important role in Nigeria's economy. However, the lack of proper oversight and rampant illegal mining has led to massive revenue losses.
Community leaders, including Mohammed Ajiya from Fika, said the government's lax monitoring system allowed this problem to grow unchecked. "The government must create a robust system to track how many trucks leave with gypsum and ensure the correct taxes are remitted," Mr Ajiya says.
Gypsum is essential in industries, ranging from construction to agriculture. It is used in cement production, soil conditioning, and as a component in Plaster of Paris (POP). With these broad applications, the economic potential of gypsum mining is substantial. Yet, illegal operations and a lack of enforcement have left much of that potential untapped, with millions of naira slipping through the cracks.
In Fika, the royalty fee for gypsum extraction recently increased from N9,000 to N19,000 per truck, based on a per-ton rate that doubled from N300 to N600. An average truck carries around 30 tonnes of gypsum, meaning this rate hike significantly increases the cost for legitimate miners. However, illegal miners who operate without permits or oversight continue to exploit the resource without paying these fees, further exacerbating the problem.
Illegal mining activities in Fika have created an environment where rules are easily bypassed. The miners work without protective equipment, and there are no safety protocols in place. This leads to frequent accidents, health risks, and environmental degradation. As a result, miners like Mr Abdullahi face life-threatening dangers in their daily work.
Locals interviewed estimated that one miner dies every month due to unsafe working conditions, with most fatalities caused by landslides, cave-ins, or falls in unmonitored pits.
The illicit nature of the operations also contributes to environmental destruction. Mining pits are left unfilled, turning farmland into dangerous wastelands. During the rainy season, these pits fill with water, creating invisible traps that have led to countless accidents, including livestock deaths. For local herders and farmers, the consequences are bad. Farmers lose productive land, and herders often find their cattle drowned in waterlogged pits.
Beyond its traditional uses, gypsum holds untapped potential for contributing to Nigeria's energy transition efforts. Gypsum can be processed into rare earth minerals, essential for the development of renewable energy technologies, such as wind turbines and electric vehicles, said Gbenga Okunlola, a professor of economic geology at the University of Ibadan. However, Mr Okunlola is pessimistic about Nigeria's technical and financial capabilities to drive the transformation.
"(There is) lack of competency and technical capability for the separation of REE from gypsum," Mr Okunlola said.
Umar Auwal, a gypsum dealer in Gashuwa, noted that while the mineral's economic potential is vast, the industry remains underdeveloped. "Gypsum plays a critical role in multiple industries, and with the right investment, it could be used to advance Nigeria's energy goals. Illegal mining and a lack of regulation are holding us back from realising this potential," he said.
Gashuwa's landscape is scarred by abandoned mines and gaping craters created by miners using local equipment. Environmental damage is evident, with deforestation, soil erosion, and biodiversity loss.
Mining pits dot farmlands, and mounds of waste from the gypsum extraction process scatter the landscape. During the rainy season, many of these pits become unusable, and they often remain useless even after the rains subside.
Mining activities have encroached on other land uses, such as grazing and cultivation. A major issue is the lack of proper reclamation. Miners frequently fail to refill the pits as agreed, leading to conflicts with farmers and herders.
Grazers often complain about losing their livestock to these open pits. Additionally, unfilled pits during the rainy season pose serious hazards, especially when they fill with water, making them difficult to spot and resulting in accidents.
Mamma Abbo, a herder who has been grazing his family's cattle in Gashuwa for 10 years, expressed deep frustration over his animals' dangerous encounters with the gypsum mining pits. "If a calf falls into one of the pits, it drowns instantly," Mr Abbo lamented.
He added that "Sometimes, when an adult cow falls in, it breaks its legs before we can rescue it, but most of the time, they drown and die."
"We have lost several cattle to these incidents."
The unregulated mining operations have not only caused environmental damage but have also severely impacted the livelihoods of local herders.
Farmers in Gashuwa have also felt the negative impacts of gypsum mining on their agricultural activities. Large portions of land are dug up for mining, leaving fertile farmlands scarred and unusable. Many farmers complained that the mining activities led to a significant loss of arable land, making it difficult to grow crops and sustain their livelihoods.
Mohammed Idris, a local farmer, explained how the mining has devastated his fields. "Before the miners came, this land was fertile and productive. Now, with pits everywhere, it's almost impossible to farm. The rain washes gypsum dust into our fields, which affects soil quality and stunts crop growth."
He added that many farmers are forced to abandon parts of their land due to soil erosion and contamination caused by the mining. Additionally, farmers face the constant danger of their animals and even their own machinery falling into the uncovered abandoned pits.
Beyond the environmental impact, unprofessional gypsum mining poses serious health risks to local miners and nearby communities. Miners often work without protective gear, exposing themselves to respiratory problems and other hazards like landslides.
These fatalities are often caused by a combination of factors, including unsafe mining practices, lack of protective gear, and the constant risk of accidents such as landslides and cave-ins. Miners, who primarily use rudimentary tools like picks, shovels, and ropes, work in unstable pits, and without proper safety protocols, are exposed to injuries and fatalities.
Explaining the risks involved, some miners said that injuries and accidents are common due to the dangerous and unstable conditions. Labourers are susceptible to sudden collapses and landslides because they don't use safety equipment. "The walls of the pits are frequently unstable, and heavy rains can cause sections to cave in, trapping miners beneath the debris," one of the miners said.
Mamman Gada, the youngest gypsum mining lead, further described that "When cave-ins occur, miners can be trapped for hours or even days, with limited chances of rescue due to the lack of proper equipment and emergency response systems. The combination of poorly maintained pits, insufficient safety measures, and the lack of training creates a perilous environment where injuries and entrapments are all too common."
In some cases, miners fall into the deep, narrow pits while attempting to extract gypsum, leading to broken bones, head injuries, or worse. Also, those working at night, often using only torchlights for visibility, are particularly vulnerable to accidents, as they can easily misstep or lose their balance in the darkness.
Children from the community, often used as cheap labour, continue to fall victim to these preventable deaths. Exposed to the dangers of gypsum mining at a young age, they face constant risks, not only from accidents but also from long-term health hazards.
The lack of protective measures leaves the children vulnerable to respiratory issues, physical injuries, and other serious health complications. Their early involvement in such dangerous work highlights the exploitation of children in the mining industry and the urgent need for stronger enforcement of child labour laws and safety regulations to protect these vulnerable young lives.
Zakaria Musa, a 43-year-old gypsum miner, spoke candidly about the health problems he has faced since working at the mining site. Having been in the trade for about 15 years, Mr Musa revealed that he has suffered from chronic cough and persistent headaches, both of which remain untreated. "I've had these issues ever since I started mining," he said.
"But I can't quit because this is how I make a living. I rely on traditional medicine to manage my illness and keep going." Despite the health risks, Mr Musa, like many other miners, feels trapped in the dangerous work due to a lack of alternatives for earning a livelihood.
Despite significant tax losses from illegal mining operations in Fika, local communities are now calling for a fairer share of the resources extracted from their lands. "Since the mining is taking place within our local government area, the local community deserves its rightful share of the resources generated from the minerals being mined," said Muhammed, a former chairman of Fika local government area of Yobe State.
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He emphasised that a fair distribution of resources would drive social and infrastructural development at both the state and local levels. "The three tiers of government should each receive an equitable portion of the resources extracted," he added.
According to Saidu Baba, a professor at the Department of Geology at the University of Maiduguri, gypsum is one of Nigeria's most valuable industrial minerals. "The gypsum deposits found in Fika, Yobe State, are of particularly high quality, with petrological and geochemical analysis showing a purity level of about 80 per cent," he said.
Despite the potential of these rich deposits, Mr Baba says Nigeria imports over 70 per cent of the gypsum used in its industries, with only 20-30 per cent produced locally from states such as Yobe, Sokoto, Kogi, and Adamawa.
Mr Baba emphasised that illegal mining significantly undermines the economic benefits that could come from gypsum mining. He pointed out that illegal mining results in tax evasion, improper extraction practices, and environmental degradation. "Illegal mining deprives the government of substantial revenue through underreporting and failure to pay royalties," Mr Baba explained. The Nigerian Ministry of Mines and Steel Development estimates that the country loses up to ₦8 trillion in revenue from illegal mining activities across various mineral sectors, not just gypsum.
Mr Baba further shed light on a lesser explored opportunity, the association of rare earth minerals with gypsum deposits. He clarified that while gypsum does not contain rare earth elements, it is sometimes associated with rare earth-bearing minerals like monazite, which contain critical elements such as perium and uranium. These rare earth minerals are essential for producing technologies like wind turbines, solar panels, and batteries, which are crucial for Nigeria's energy transition.
However, the professor highlighted that Nigeria lacks the necessary infrastructure and research facilities to determine whether the gypsum deposits in Fika contain such valuable minerals. "We need geological mapping and chemical analysis to establish whether Fika's gypsum is associated with rare earth elements," he noted.
He advocated for collaboration between experts, investors, and the government to explore this potential, stressing that if Nigeria can harness these resources, it would play a critical role in boosting the country's capacity for renewable energy production.
Mr Baba concluded by emphasising that tapping into this potential would require significant investment in research centres and infrastructure development, as well as partnerships with international stakeholders. With global demand for rare earth elements estimated at 134,000 tons annually, Nigeria's potential currently estimated at 10,000 tons--could be a game-changer for the country's push towards sustainable energy.
