Garlands for the Guardian of the Mines at 69

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October 6, 2025
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By Kehinde Bamigbetan

Today, 6 October 2025, the Honourable Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr.Henry Dele Alake clocks 69. For many in Nigeria, the name conjures memories of his decades as a journalist and public communicator. These days, it represents a new hope for sustainable reform in Nigeria’s solid minerals sector and Africa’s mining industry.

To understand the minister, you must know his father, Pa Michael Ojo Alake. He graduated in Philosophy from Fourah Bay College, then West Africa’s most prestigious university. He later founded and ran the Benevolent High School in Lagos, where indigenes of his home town Ikoro-Ekiti, as well as indigent students, attended free of charge. His sacrifice was not ignored. The Ikoro people gave him the title, Eleyinmi of Ikoro-Ekiti to appreciate his benevolence.

Between 1979 and 1983, Alake Senior was one of the trusted advisers of Governor Lateef Jakande on the formulation and implementation of the free education programme, a scheme which scrapped the classroom shift system and built over 500 new schools to accommodate the pupils in one single shift within four years.

Being an educationist, Alake Senior knew the impact of good schools in forming the character of a civilized, confident and progressive child. He put his son in the best schools of the times -Surulere Baptist Primary School, Surulere, Lagos; Christ’s School, Ado-Ekiti, Igbobi College, Yaba- and topped it with university education at the University of Lagos, where the minister studied Political Science and later earned a Master’s in Mass Communication. But his exposure was not only academic. His inter-campus, extra-curricular engagements brought him under the influence of Professor Wole Soyinka, further raising his social consciousness and commitment to public good.

This pedigree set a high standard in morality, elocution, and public service for the minister. He is still determined to surpass it. His father excelled in education, but he chose communications. As soon as he enrolled in the National Youth Service Corps and was deployed to Ogun State Radio, his hard work and creativity were noticed. The organization entrusted him with tasks of confirmed staffers. His work led to his engagement with Lagos State Radio and a quick elevation to Senior Sub-Editor—one of the fastest advancements in the organization’s history.

The Crusader

As columnist, news manager, and editor, Alake made crusading for good governance the raison d’être of his career. His choice of stories and writings was deliberately crafted to conscientize the readers in the fashion of Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. This required immense courage under military rule, and he was often the guest of the secret service. At such times, they would find him ready with his toilet bag. At one point, Concord Press of Nigeria, where he worked, was put under lock and key by the junta. But this didn’t deter the crusader, whose conviction that journalism must have social relevance made him even more determined to mobilise the people to resist bad governance. To Dele, the words of Frantz Fannon, that “ the future will have no pity for those men, who, possessing the exceptional privilege of being able to speak words of truth to their oppressors but have, instead, taken refuge in an attitude of passivity, of mute indifference, and sometimes, of cold complicity” was a call to be an agent of change.

The annulment of the June 12, 1993 election won freely by the publisher of Concord Press, Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Abiola thrust him into the epicentre of the struggle for the actualization of this historic exercise of popular sovereignty by the Nigerian people. In that titanic struggle, he met and worked alongside Senator Bola Tinubu, who had given up his plan to be president of the Third Republic Senate to facilitate Abiola’s emergence. A comradeship that endures to date was forged in the furnace of that struggle, in Nigeria and exile. Indeed, Tinubu’s plan to return to the Senate in 1998 was diverted to governorship by advisers such as Alake, who believed he had established the progressive profile and financial wizardry to execute Abiola’s manifesto, Farewell to Poverty, in Lagos State at a micro-level and later escalate to the national level. When Bola Tinubu became Governor of Lagos State in 1999, Alake became the Lagos State Commissioner for Information & Strategy, a position he held till 2007. In that capacity, he was instrumental in shaping the communications strategy and public image of the Tinubu administration in Lagos. Beyond Lagos, Alake’s involvement in national politics deepened. In December 2014, he was appointed Director of Media and Communication for the Buhari Campaign Organisation during the 2015 presidential election. Over the years, he cultivated a reputation as a strategist, tactician, and loyal political confidant of PresidentTinubu.

The Mining Reformer

Only a man like Alake, who has established the mental agility for cracking difficult tasks and a record of standing up to the status quo, could have been assigned the herculean task of cleaning the Augean stable of the solid minerals sector. The risks were real: weak institutions, vested interests in illicit mining, and security challenges—all posed serious headwinds. Without strong follow-through, even well-intended policies can stall. Since his appointment as the Minister of Solid Minerals Development in August 2023, he has led efforts to reform a sector long considered underutilized, fragmented, and rife with regulatory inefficiencies.

Alake hit the ground running by applying the agenda-setting theory of journalism. He developed the Seven-Point Agenda for international competitiveness and local industrialization of Nigeria’s mining sector through critical research and review of the literature and interviews with stakeholders. He identified the challenges such as insecurity caused by illegal miners and bandits, speculation in licence administration, violations of the Minerals and Mining Act 2007, corporate void caused by the winding down of the Nigerian Mining Corporation, low rates of royalties and administrative fees despite multi-million dollar technological investment and the failure to establish statutory and regulatory bodies such as the Environmental Rehabilitation Fund.. He was very passionate on reversing the export of raw minerals and ensuring that minerals were processed locally to provide jobs and attract higher prices in the international markets.

In 25 months, Alake put no one in doubt that a new sheriff is in charge in the solid minerals sector. He took many steps. He set up the Mining Marshals to combat illegal mining and banditry, revoked 3,974 titles for failure to pay annual service fee or refusal to mine after obtaining licences, established the private sector-oriented Nigerian Solid Minerals Company and the Environmental Rehabilitation Fund,increased rates of administrative fees and royalties, and revolutionised mining communications. To top it all, advocacy for value addition that he espoused for the first time at the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh in January 2024, won the hearts of ministers of mining in Africa. To maintain the momentum across the continent, they formed the Africa Minerals Strategy Group and made him the pioneer chairman. A year after, at the 2025 Future Minerals Forum, they poured encomiums on Alake for branding the one-year old AMSG into a continental colossus!

The results of Alake’s reforms in the solid minerals sector form a major component of the achievements of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. These include an increase in revenue of the Nigerian Mining Cadastral Office from N6billion in 2023 to N12.5 billion in 2024. It has reported N10 billion between January and April, this year. Similarly, for the first time, royalties collected by the Mines Inspectorate department of the Ministry peaked at N6.4 billion as at December, last year.

The advocacy for value addition has stimulated mineral processing and manufacturing projects such as Hasetins $400 million Rare Earth plant,$60 million ASBA lithium processing plant, $200 million Canmax Lithium plant, $200 million New Energy Materials Company Lithium plant and new processing projects are in the pipeline. It has encouraged existing plants such as Segilola/Thor, Kursi, Africa Industries Group to scale up operations. The Ministry, through SMDF, its funding agency, is also planning to invest in the $1.3billiom alumina and $96.8million silica processing projects in collaboration with the Africa Finance Corporation.

The establishment of the Mining Marshals has led to the prosecution of over 300 suspected illegal miners by the Mining Marshals, dislodgement of illegal miners from 90 licenced areas and monitoring of 450 locations occupied by illegal miners. With more logistical resources, the enforcement of the mining laws will surely be intensified.

Transparency and accountability in licence administration have been achieved with the upgrade of the Electronic Mining Cadastre system, launch of mining decisions website and the improvement of content on the websites of the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency and the ministry. Today, research for and applications for licences can be initiated 24 hours every day from anywhere on the earth.

Alake has also intervened in human capacity development. His deal with the Australian government, negotiated during the Africa Down Under in September 2023 was executed this year with the training of the first batch of Nigerian geologists in modern exploration practices at the Murdoch university. Locally, over 250 youths have benefitted from workshops on gemology and jewellery making and the Institute of Geosciences continues to produce fresh mining professionals yearly.

What no serious witness of the solid minerals sector won’t contest is Alake’s sterling achievement in ensuring better compliance with the law. Operators are now more alert to their responsibilities and religious in observing deadlines and the rules of engagement.

With these records, Alake continues the family tradition by devotiny his life to the service of his fatherland. It is a daily grind of hardwork, creativity and persistence that may make him forget that another year has passed and today is his birthday. This article is a gentle reminder for him to take a day off and celebrate God’s grace. Happy birthday, sir!

*Kehinde Bamigbetan, former Commissioner for Information & Strategy in Lagos State, is the Special Adviser to Dr. Dele Alake, the Honourable Minister of Solid Minerals Development

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Proof of Murder Where the Victim’s Body Cannot be Found

In the Supreme Court of Nigeria

Holden at Abuja

On Friday, the 7th day of March, 2025

Before Their Lordships

Helen Morenikeji Ogunwumiju

Emmanuel Akomaye Agim

Haruna Simon Tsammani

Habeeb Adewale Olumuyiwa Abiru

Muhammed Baba Idris

Justices, Supreme Court

SC/1051/2018

Between

BETTY STEPHEN APPELLANT

And

1THE STATE RESPONDENT

(Lead Judgement delivered by Honourable Haruna Simon Tsammani, JSC)

Facts

The Appellant was the first accused before the trial Court on four counts: conspiracy to steal a child, conspiracy to commit murder, child stealing, and murder. It was alleged that the Appellant abducted one Ifueko, a child of about three years, and handed her over to the second accused for a money-making ritual. Subsequently, the child disappeared and was never seen again. The Appellant, who was apparently in custody of the child, failed to provide any satisfactory explanation for the child’s disappearance. This matter was reported to the Police, who investigated and arrested both the Appellant and his co-accused. The Appellant and the co-accused persons made confessional statements at the Police station, which were tendered in evidence and admitted after the conduct of a trial-within-trial to test their veracity.

The Appellant and other accused persons were tried and convicted on all four counts. Dissatisfied with the conviction, the Appellant appealed to the Court of Appeal, which dismissed the appeal. The Appellant further appealed to the Supreme Court.

Issues for Determination

The Appellant and the Respondent raised two similar issues for determination of the appeal, thus:

i. Whether the learned trial Judge was not in error when he admitted Exhibit “B 1” in the main trial (after the mini trial), even when the Plaintiff’s witness who testified as PW 1 in the mini trial admitted that one Inspector Ogunsare was the maker or recorder of same, and no proper foundation was laid as to his whereabouts?

ii. Whether the learned Justices of the Court below were not in error, when they affirmed the position of the trial Court that the Respondent proved beyond reasonable doubt the four count charge against the Appellant, considering the totality of the evidence led in this case at the trial Court?

Arguing the appeal, Counsel for the Appellant submitted on issue one that the trial court erred in admitting Exhibit B1, an extra-judicial statement, without properly determining its voluntariness through a mandatory trial-within-trial. Citing cases such as DAURA & ANOR v THE STATE (1980) 12 NSCC 334 AT 345, Counsel emphasised that whenever voluntariness is questioned, the trial Judge must assess the statement’s admissibility by hearing evidence on whether it was made voluntarily and free from duress, threats, or undue influence. Counsel submitted further that, the prosecution bears the burden of proving beyond reasonable doubt that the statement was voluntary, and the accused need only raise doubt on voluntariness to challenge admission. He contended that in this case, the prosecution failed to discharge this burden, noting that PW4, who testified on voluntariness, lacked proper foundation as he was neither the recorder of the statement nor shown to satisfy the conditions under Section 39 of the Evidence Act, 2011. The absence of the actual recorder’s testimony and any explanation or evidence negating torture or coercion, further undermined the prosecution’s case.

In response, the Respondent maintained that the statement was properly admitted after a valid trial-within-trial, highlighting that the Appellant volunteered the statement in English, which was also recorded in English, removing the necessity to call the original recorder. PW4 was part of the Police team involved and competent to testify on the voluntariness of the statement. The prosecution was not obliged to call multiple witnesses, when one eye witness suffices. Counsel referred to relevant authorities such as MICHAEL OLOYE v THE STATE (2018) LPELR-44775 (SC), to support this position. The Respondent submitted further that the assertion of torture by the Appellant was contradicted by the circumstances, noting the signing of the statement and hospital visit afterward. Hence, the confessional statement was rightly admitted and properly relied upon by the courts in convicting the Appellant.

On issue two, it was argued for the Appellant that the prosecution bears the burden to prove the guilt of the accused person beyond reasonable doubt, and this burden never shifts. Citing ONUGBOGU v THE STATE (1974) 9 NSCC 356 and AIGBADION v THE STATE (2000) 7 NWLR (PT.666) 686, as well as Section 36(5) of the Constitution oF Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and Section 135(1) of the Evidence Act, 2011, Counsel argued that the evidence of the Respondent was conflicting, insufficient, and raised reasonable doubt. It was contended that the testimony of PW1 was inconsistent with his earlier Police statement (Exhibit A), and no explanation was given for these contradictions, relying on authorities including UKPONG v THE QUEEN (1961) 1 SCNLR 53 and NWANKWOALA & ANOR v THE STATE (2006) 14 NWLR (PT. 1000) 663. Also, PW2 and PW3 did not implicate the Appellant in their evidence, with PW 3 notably not making any statement to the Police. Citing OHWOVORIOLE v FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA (2003) 3 NWLR (PT. 803) 176 and GBOKO v THE STATE (2009) 17 NWLR (PT. 1063) 272, the testimony of PW 5 was described as hearsay, and therefore, inadmissible under Section 38 of the Evidence Act, 2011. Counsel also criticised the Police investigation led by PW4 as incomplete and shoddy, referencing Section 214(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution, the Police Act, and OLATINWO v THE STATE (2013) 8 NWLR (PT. 1355) 126. He posited that the prosecution failed to conduct further investigations after the Appellant’s denial, relying solely on the confessional statement (Exhibit B1). Counsel argued that no prosecution witnesses were eyewitnesses to the commission of the offence, and urged that the case was built on inadmissible hearsay. Regarding the victim’s presumed death, Counsel submitted that under Section 164(1) of the Evidence Act, 2011, death cannot be presumed death until the end of seven years, and since the case commenced within that period, the trial court erred in its presumption.

Reacting to the submissions above, the Respondent argued that the confession was voluntarily made and properly admitted after a trial-within-trial. It was stressed that the lower courts made concurrent findings of fact, which the Supreme Court should not disturb except if perverse or unjust, citing ARCHIBONG v STATE (2006) 14 NWLR (Pt.1000) 349. The confession was corroborated by credible evidence, and it is settled law that a direct, positive, and unequivocal confession may ground a conviction alone, in line with the decision in AKPA v STATE (2008) 14 NWLR (PT.1106) 72. The Respondent maintained that the offences of conspiracy, child stealing, and murder were proved beyond reasonable doubt under the Criminal Code Law applicable to Edo State. Circumstantial evidence and the presumption of death were appropriately relied on, guided by the decision in MUSTAPHA MOHAMMED & ANOR v THE STATE (2007) LPELR-1894 (SC). PW1’s minor inconsistencies were immaterial to the overall evidence, citing OGUNBAYO v THE STATE (2002) 15 NWLR (Pt.789) 76. Counsel urged that the Police investigation was proper and sufficient, to support the convictions.

Court’s Judgement and Rationale

Deciding the first issue, the Supreme Court first clarified the point that an accused may be convicted solely on his confessional statement, so long as the statement is shown to have been made voluntarily, and is direct, positive, unequivocal, and duly proved at trial. It is the reasoning of the court that PW 4 in whose presence the confessional statement was made is competent to testify on the circumstances under which the statement was made, even though PW 4 was not the person who recorded the statement. Regarding the Appellant’s argument that the prosecution’s failure to call the recorder amounted to withholding evidence under Section 167(d) of the Evidence Act 2011, the Supreme Court held that “it is the duty of the prosecution to call such number of material witnesses as it requires to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt, and it is not within the power of the defence to dictate for the prosecution, which witness to call or not to call.” Their Lordships reasoned that since there is another witness to give testimony on the Appellant’s voluntariness in making the statement, the evidence of the recorder of the confessional statement is dispensable, and failure to call the recorder did not amount to withholding of evidence. The court concluded that based on the trial-within-trial evidence, the Appellant’s confessional statement was voluntarily made, as the Appellant did not successfully challenge the evidence of PW 4.

Regarding the second issue on evaluation of evidence, specifically on whether the charge of murder could be sustained even though the victim, Ifueko Stephen, was not found. The Supreme Court held that for the fact of death to be proved by circumstantial evidence, the evidence relied upon must clearly, positively, and unequivocally suggest that the victim of the offence charged is dead. The fact of death, may be presumed by circumstantial evidence – OTKIR v A-G OF BENDEL STATE (1986) 2 NWLR (PT. 24) 648. The court held further that the fact of death can be proved by circumstantial evidence, even when neither the body nor any trace of the body could be found – ADEPETU v STATE (1998) 9 NWLR (PT. 565) 185 AT 207.

In the present case, the Court found that the Appellant confessed to delivering the victim to the second accused person for ritual purposes involving mutilation of the victim’s body, including the cutting of the victim’s fingers and removal of hair, in exchange for the sum of N1,500,000.00. Since the child could not be found, the Court reasoned that “the only reasonable and logical conclusion is that, the child died and the remnant (body) secretly discarded where it has not been found.” Their Lordships, therefore, concluded that based on the circumstantial evidence and Appellant’s confessional statement, the offences for which the Appellant was charged were proved beyond reasonable doubt.

Accordingly, the court dismissed the appeal and upheld the judgement of the lower courts.

Appeal Dismissed.

Representation

O.T. Okeke (Legal Aid Pro bono Counsel) for the Appellant

S.M. Iteinmo (On the fiat of the HAG of Edo State) for the Respondent.

Reported by Optimum Publishers Limited, Publishers of the Nigerian Monthly Law Reports (NMLR)(An affiliate of Babalakin & Co.)

In the Supreme Court of Nigeria Holden at Abuja On Friday, the 7th day of March, 2025 Before Their Lordships Helen Morenikeji Ogunwumiju Emmanuel Akomaye Agim Haruna Simon Tsammani Habeeb

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October 6, 2025
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Tinubu Celebrates Dele Alake at 69, Describes him as consummate strategist, outstanding journalist, accomplished public servant

Deji Elumoye in Abuja

President Bola Tinubu has felicitated his long-time ally and Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr Dele Alake, on his 69th birthday anniversary.
The President, in a statement issued on Monday by his Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, described Alake as a dependable ally, a consummate strategist, an outstanding journalist, and an accomplished public servant whose commitment to national development and good governance has remained unwavering over the decades.
President Tinubu recalled his long years of friendship and partnership with the celebrant, noting his exceptional public communication and national development service.
The President commended the Minister’s ongoing efforts to reposition the Solid Minerals sector as a significant revenue earner for Nigeria through policy innovation, investment promotion, and integration of artisanal miners into the formal economy in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda.
“On this special day, I pray that Almighty God will continue to bless Dele with good health, wisdom, and strength.
“He has remained a committed, loyal, and outstanding ally for several decades. His steadfastness and unyielding commitment to national development and progress stand him out as a patriot.
“I wish him a long life and more years of service to our nation and humanity”, President Tinubu said.

Deji Elumoye in Abuja President Bola Tinubu has felicitated his long-time ally and Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr Dele Alake, on his 69th birthday anniversary.The President, in a statement issued

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