FROM GOLD TO GUNS: RESOURCE EXCLUSION, ECONOMIC SABOTAGE, AND THE CRISIS OF GOVERNANCE IN TARABA STATE'S MINING SECTOR

Abstract

Artisanal and small- scale gold mining (ASGM) has expanded rapidly across Nigeria's northeastern Taraba State, creating a paradox of wealth extraction and human insecurity. Drawing on interviews with community leaders, state officials, and field observations in Bali, Gashaka, and Sardaua Local Government Areas (LGAs), this article examines how resource exclusion, economic sabotage, and weak regulatory capacity generate a multidimensional governance crisis. Anchored on Fragility Theory, this study explains how weak institutional capacity, poor governance, and the erosion of state legitimacy create conditions in which informal mining networks thrive. Drawing on interviews with community leaders, government officials, and field observations from Bali, Gashaka, and Sardaua LGAs. The findings reveal that unregulated mining fuels environmental degradation, undermines state revenue, empowers informal cartels and armed groups, and marginalizes host communities. The study further demonstrates that without inclusive governance structures, effective regulatory frameworks, and environmental safeguards, mineral wealth becomes a driver of instability rather than development. In response, the study recommends the establishment of a transparent artisanal mining regulatory system, mandatory environmental assessments and land rehabilitation plans, and the adoption of participatory community- based governance models such as Community Development Agreements to ensure equitable benefit- sharing, strengthen state authority, and reduce the conditions that enable illegal mining and insecurity to persist.