Communities across Nigeria’s mining belt are watching trucks carry wealth out of their land while citizens remain in the dark about who is mining, what government is earning, and what local people are actually gaining from the resources beneath their feet.

Development Diaries reports that Vice President Kashim Shettima recently announced that Nigeria’s mining sector attracted more than $2.6 billion in foreign direct investment within 30 months, with the government crediting reforms aimed at ‘de-risking’ the sector for investors.

The announcement sounded impressive, especially in a country searching for alternatives to oil revenue, but many Nigerians living beside these mining sites are still asking the kind of questions that should normally have obvious answers in a democracy.

In many communities across Zamfara State, Nasarawa State, Plateau State, and Niger State, people can point to the sound of excavation machines faster than they can point to any publicly available document explaining what exactly is happening on their land.

Villagers see mining companies arrive with equipment, security escorts, and long convoys of trucks moving through dusty roads at odd hours, but the actual contracts remain hidden like examination questions reserved only for powerful people in Abuja.

The problem is that government officials often speak about mining investment as though attracting foreign capital automatically means development has arrived.

Nigerians heard it during the oil boom years when billions entered government accounts while communities in the Niger Delta continued battling polluted rivers, damaged farmlands, unemployment, and abandoned health centres.

Citizens are now looking at the solid minerals sector and asking whether the country is preparing to repeat the same story with different minerals and different communities.

The government’s idea of ‘de-risking’ the mining sector mainly focuses on making investors comfortable enough to bring money into Nigeria, with investors wanting stable licences, predictable regulations, and protection for their businesses.

A mining company may enjoy legal certainty while nearby residents still lack clean water, environmental protection, healthcare, or any clear explanation of what benefits are supposed to return to the host community.

That is why many people hear billions of dollars in mining investment announcements and immediately ask about who exactly is enjoying this money.

The first issue citizens should be demanding answers to is licensing transparency. Nigerians deserve to know the names of companies receiving mining licences, the locations covered, the minerals being extracted, the royalty arrangements involved, and the conditions attached to those licences.

Another major issue is revenue transparency because foreign direct investment figures do not automatically tell citizens how much money government is actually collecting from mining activities.

Nigerians have repeatedly watched huge investment announcements produce very little visible development in communities hosting extraction projects.

Citizens, therefore, deserve publicly accessible information showing how much royalty revenue has been collected from mining operations, where the money is going, and how much is returning to affected states and local communities.

Environmental accountability is another area raising concern because Nigeria already has a painful history of mining-related environmental disasters.

Illegal and poorly regulated gold mining activities in parts of Zamfara have previously contributed to severe lead poisoning outbreaks that killed children and damaged entire communities.

Citizens living near mining areas understand that extraction goes beyond removing minerals from the ground, as it can contaminate water sources, destroy farmland, spread respiratory illnesses, and leave communities carrying environmental damage long after investors leave with their profits.

Women often bear the heaviest burden when environmental damage occurs because they are usually the ones sourcing water, farming small plots, caring for sick family members, and managing households already struggling under poverty. When rivers become polluted or farmland becomes unusable, it is women and children who feel the impact first and longest.

The African Mining Vision, which Nigeria supports, clearly states that African mineral resources should contribute directly to community development and long-term economic transformation.

That principle sounds good in conference halls and government speeches, but citizens are beginning to notice that many mining communities still look abandoned despite the resources leaving their soil daily.

Institutions such as the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, the Federal Ministry of Environment, and state governments have important questions to answer.

Nigerians should now begin demanding access to public mining licence registers, royalty payment data, environmental compliance reports, and community development agreements connected to major mining operations across the country.

The National Assembly must also stop treating mining conversations as technical matters reserved for experts and investors alone because the consequences affect ordinary citizens directly.

Public hearings should force relevant ministries and agencies to explain exactly how mining revenues are being managed, what environmental safeguards exist, and how host communities are benefiting from the billions now entering the sector.