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MTN Foundation, Youth Ministry Collaborate on Youth Development

Published

7 years ago

January 24, 2020

MTN Foundation, Youth Ministry Collaborate on Youth Development

Joel Ajayi

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare has scored another partner for his DEEL initiative as the MTN Foundation has indicated an interest in supporting the ministry’s effort to increase investment in the Nigerian youth.

At a meeting with the foundation’s management on Thursday in Abuja, the Minister explained that focus has moved from empowerment programmes to actual investment in the youth for which several partners have signed up to support the ministry in achieving the goals of the DEEL Initiative.

The Minister emphasized the importance of Public-Private Partnerships and sought the collaboration of the foundation in actualizing the mandate of the Ministry.

While urging the representatives to take a tour around the stadium he said, he asked the foundation to prevail on its business arm to tap into the Adoption Campaign.

He said, “I urge this team to spare 15 minutes and take a walk around and see that the nation has a gem in the Moshood Abiola Stadium. It can be compared to any in the world.”

The Minister also explained how the sport is now being treated as a business while expressing the administration’s commitment to evolving a sustainable business model.

“We are about trying to create a sustainable model that can transform sports into a business. Our sports right now is just recreation, elsewhere sports is business. Other countries that do not have as up to our population have turned sports into a business”.

He also harped on the need to prepare the youth for leadership today to equip them for tomorrow.

He called on the foundation to join other organizations that are already working with the Ministry as strategic implementation partners to deliver her mandate.

The DEEL initiative of the Ministry is aimed at Youth Development which represents; D – Digital Skills Acquisition, E- Entrepreneurship, E- Employability, L- Leadership.

While Speaking, the MTN Director of Communication, Tobe Okigbo, said MTN foundation will work with the ministry of youth and Sports.

“We have been supporting others sector, education, scholarship amongst others and since you emerge as Minister the whole Nigeria know your passion and effort toward the development of Sports.

“The visit was to work out a mutual partnership that would be of benefit to all youths in the country I am made to boldly say Nigerian youth are lucky to have you as a minister.”

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Alake Inaugurates Nigeria-US Solid Minerals Committee, Dismisses $700bn Claim, Says No Assets Sold

Published

5 days ago

October 28, 2026

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, on Tuesday inaugurated the Nigeria-United States Committee on Strategic Cooperation in the Solid Minerals Sector in Abuja, dismissing reports that Nigeria sold $700 billion worth of solid minerals to the US.

The inauguration followed the strategic cooperation framework established between Nigeria and the United States during the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.

In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Head PRESS and Public Relations Department Mrs. Kania Maliki Andeyaba stated that, Alake in the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, signed with the US is a government-to-government platform to facilitate business-to-business engagements between American investors and Nigerian local operators, not a sale of assets.

Harping on the importance of the solid minerals sector to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic diversification agenda, he noted that the administration was committed to reducing dependence on a mono-product economy through the sustainable development of Nigeria’s vast mineral resources.

According to him, the Nigeria–US partnership as a strategic initiative to attract investment, promote technology transfer, strengthen local mineral processing and create employment opportunities.

“There is no sale of any Nigerian asset. There’s nothing exchanging hands,” Alake declared.

“We created a platform to facilitate mingling of US investment ventures with Nigeria’s local operators. It is in the public domain. We signed it in public and published it in four or five national newspapers.”

The Minister said reports claiming the US was coming to take over Nigeria’s minerals and security architecture were untrue at best and products of riotous imagination at worst.

Explaining the policy thrust, Alake said Africa has historically held the short end of the stick in global economic transactions, and Nigeria is determined to change that model.

“We have the resources, the critical elements the world needs to transit to clean energy. So we are creating a new paradigm — you bring your capital, expertise and technology, to match with our natural resources and create a win-win situation . The investor gains, Nigeria gains.’’he said.

Nigeria, he stressed, had operated a mono-cultural economy dependent on oil, while solid minerals were exploited informally — with ores taken “from pit to port” without value addition.

Alake said government has now made local processing mandatory, refusing to grant mineral titles to investors without a clear pathway to processing in Nigeria.

He said the policy led to the springing up of processing factories, including the largest lithium processing plant in West Africa commissioned recently in Nasarawa by the Vice President, and informed the formation of the African Minerals Strategy Group.

Alake noted that investor confidence has returned due to macro-economic reforms by President Bola Tinubu that guarantee security of tenure and repatriation of profits.

He charged the committee to discharge its assignment responsibly, saying its work is strategic to achieving the President’s $1 trillion economy target.

To this end, he told the Committee to ensure effective coordination, identify investment opportunities and translate the framework into measurable outcomes capable of positioning Nigeria as a competitive player in the global solid minerals industry.

In his welcome address, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo, said the inauguration translates growing bilateral engagements into a structured framework for practical cooperation and investment mobilization

Economic Officer at the US Embassy, Jonathan Baas, said President Donald Trump has prioritized three areas for US embassies — energy, artificial intelligence/super intelligence, and critical minerals.

Baas said Washington’s direction is to work with partners to secure critical supply chains while ensuring partners capture value.

“We just signed a contract today on looking into building AI data centres in Nigeria at the Nigerian Economic Summit. That’s the direction Washington wants us to go,” he said.

In his vote of thanks, CEO/Managing Director of Nigeria Solid Minerals Company, NSMC said that the committee

is expected to coordinate implementation, facilitate investment and monitor progress towards achieving the objectives of the Nigeria–US cooperation framework.

The inauguration reinforces the Federal Government’s commitment to repositioning the solid minerals sector as a key driver of economic diversification, industrial development and national prosperity under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

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