Deputy Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, is calling for a strategic partnership between Nigeria and Uzbekistan to strengthen Nigeria’s solid minerals and mining industry. Kalu made the proposal during a high-level meeting with Uzbekistan’s Minister of Mining and Geology, Yusupov Ural Sadullayevich, held Monday at the Ministry’s headquarters in Tashkent. The meeting was part of his engagements at the 150th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union currently underway in the Central Asian nation.
Accompanied by Senator Ireti Kingibe, Hon. Olumide Osoba, Hon. Mark Esset, and the Clerk of the National Assembly, Kamorudeen Ogunlana, the Deputy Speaker received an in-depth briefing on Uzbekistan’s mining sector reforms and how they have reshaped the country’s economy. Minister Sadullayevich, supported by First Deputy Minister Omonullo Nasritdinkhodjaev, explained that Uzbekistan’s solid minerals industry is the nation’s top job creator. He outlined how the country has moved beyond exporting raw minerals to developing a robust value chain that emphasizes local processing and the export of high-value finished products.
“Our policy ensures that we don’t just extract resources we build industries around them,” Sadullayevich said, attributing much of Uzbekistan’s economic growth to this model. “It’s a strategy that has spurred industrial development and created significant employment opportunities.” In a show of goodwill, the Minister expressed readiness to support Nigeria with technical expertise, exchange programs, and institutional cooperation to replicate Uzbekistan’s mining success story.
Both delegations agreed to pursue deeper ties through trade, knowledge exchange, and future bilateral visits. The initiative is seen as a potential catalyst for unlocking Nigeria’s vast but underdeveloped solid minerals sector.
