Nigeria’s ambitious goal to increase the mining sector’s contribution to its GDP to 50 percent is facing significant hurdles. Industry experts warn that deep-seated issues—including widespread insecurity, a lack of credible geological data, and pervasive illegal mining—make this target largely unrealistic under current conditions. While government reforms aimed at diversifying the economy and boosting domestic mineral processing are underway, analysts emphasize that without a robust security framework and massive investment in exploration to provide verifiable reserve data, the sector will struggle to attract the necessary capital to reach its long-term potential.