President Bola Tinubu has commissioned what the Federal Government described as West Africa’s largest lithium processing plant in Endo community, Nasarawa Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
The Diamond New Energy plant has a daily processing capacity of 6,000 metric tonnes and an annual capacity of three million metric tonnes. The company says it has created over 1,000 direct jobs and more than 2,000 indirect jobs since operations began.
Tinubu, represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, said solid minerals remain “the enduring backbone of every economy”, warning that “nations do not become great simply because nature has been generous to them.”
He pointed out that “What changes a nation is a deliberate movement from extraction to processing, from potential to production.”
The President said lithium is central to battery technology, electric mobility and renewable energy storage, describing the plant as part of a broader national industrial drive: “A factory is never just a building; it is where policy becomes employment.”
He went on to commend Governor Abdullahi Sule for positioning Nasarawa as a model for extractive industry development, with the President noting that “investment is drawn by leadership.”
In his remarks, the Governor, who will be serving out his two terms in office, described the project as a major investment in the state’s economy and urged more investors to explore opportunities in the mining sector.
He said the state has commercial deposits of lithium, lead, zinc, copper, gold, iron ore, gemstones and marble, alongside vast agricultural potential.
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, said the Federal Government will no longer permit export of raw minerals without local processing.
According to him, the inauguration demonstrates the progress of the Federal Government’s policy on local value addition in the mining sector.
“What we are doing here today is an eloquent testimony to the prophetic statement of Mr President on the one hand, and to our own commitment in the Ministry of Solid Minerals… to developing and transforming Nigeria’s solid minerals sector,” he said.
The Minister reiterated that Nigeria would no longer encourage the export of raw minerals without local processing.
“Local value addition became a pillar of our policies in the Ministry of Solid Minerals,” he noted.
Alake added that several African countries have begun adopting similar policies to encourage domestic mineral processing.
“Our goal is to begin to produce lithium batteries, vehicles, phones, solar panels, solar-powered turbines, and every gadget that uses lithium as a base requirement for its performance. We want to produce everything in Nigeria,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of Diamond New Energy, Yu Chongqiang said the company is investing beyond mining by developing processing facilities, infrastructure, workforce training and partnerships with host communities.
According to him, the company’s long-term goal is to build an integrated industrial platform that will strengthen local manufacturing, support supply chains and contribute to Africa’s clean energy future.
