The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has reaffirmed its opposition to the placement of a gold refinery in Lagos State, arguing that the decision underscores economic marginalisation of Northern Nigeria.
In a statement on Thursday, the Forum urged northern political leaders, governors and traditional elites to speak up, warning that establishing a refinery far from the major gold-producing areas in the North could have serious economic and security consequences.
NEF’s spokesperson, Professor Abubakar Jiddere, said the refinery’s location appears to divert economic opportunities away from communities that supply the raw material.
“The choice to situate Nigeria’s gold refinery in Lagos, despite gold being mined primarily in the North, is not an accidental oversight — it amounts to economic dispossession,” Jiddere said, arguing that moving value-addition activities away from resource areas weakens local industrial development and deepens regional inequality.
He warned that concentrating processing facilities in Lagos reinforces a model where raw materials are exported from the North while wealth creation and industrialisation occur elsewhere.
NEF also cited provisions of the Nigerian Constitution — including Sections 14(3) and 16 — which promote economic equity and federal character in national affairs. The group said the refinery’s location conflicts with these principles and called for broader inclusion of resource-bearing regions in industrial value chains.
The Forum further questioned why northern leaders have not taken a stronger public stand on the issue, urging them to advocate for the economic interests and dignity of their people.
However, the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development (MSMD) has dismissed the NEF’s claims, clarifying that the Lagos gold refinery is a private venture established by a company named Kian Smith, not a federal government-owned project.
The ministry stressed that investment decisions by private firms are driven by market and operational considerations, not government directives.
The ministry further highlighted that several privately owned gold refineries are being developed across Nigeria, and that the federal government’s role is to create an enabling environment under its value-addition policy.