Vice President Kashim Shettima has inaugurated Diamond New Energy Projects, described by the State House as Nigeria’s largest lithium processing plant with a production capacity of 6,000 metric tonnes per day in Nasarawa State.

Lithium is a critical mineral used in manufacturing batteries, electric vehicles and renewable energy technology such as solar.

Mr Shettima, who represented President Bola Tinubu at the inauguration, said the project was a testament of the administration’s reform agenda to wean the nation off oil dependency and generate revenue through other sectors.

He added that the project would create jobs for unemployed Nigerians and signalled the country’s readiness to compete in the global minerals market.

“The commissioning of Diamond New Energy Projects here in Nasarawa State represents confidence in Nigeria, in Nasarawa State, and in the revolutionary reforms set in place by this administration,” said Mr Shettima.“It represents confidence that Nigeria is ready to participate in the global minerals economy on terms that create jobs, build skills, strengthen local enterprises and expand our productive base.”

The vice president said that Nigeria must move beyond rhetoric in developing its solid minerals sector, warning that exporting raw materials without local processing offers little benefit to citizens.

“What changes a nation is the deliberate movement from extraction to processing… from raw materials to value-added goods,” he said.

Governor Abdullahi Sule thanked investors for choosing Nasarawa State as the host of the plant, urging others to take advantage of the state’s mineral resources and its proximity to the Federal Capital Territory to drive industrialisation and economic growth.

Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, said recent reforms by the Tinubu administration had helped redirect global investment interest towards Nigeria’s solid minerals sector.

He described the lithium project as a major milestone and encouraged both local and foreign investors to explore opportunities in the country’s vast mineral deposits.