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2nd Peer Review: Sensitisation session rescheduled for Feb.27,28 -AUDA- APRM Boss

Published

7 years ago

January 22, 2020

Joel Ajayi

The two-day broad Sensitisation/training on experience sharing program for major stakeholders in the country’s Second- Generation Review process, earlier scheduled for January 21st and 22nd has now been postponed till February 27th and 28th, says Princess Gloria Akobundu, National Coordinator/ Chief Executive Officer, African Union Development Agency- New Partnership for Africa’s Development/African Peer Review Mechanism, AUDA-NEPAD/APRM Nigeria .

This contained in a statement signed by Abolade Ogundimu, Media Assistant to the AUDA-NEPAD/APRM Boss.

Akobundu said the postponement was in order to ensure adequate attendance of major stakeholders, especially those from sister African nations.

According to AUDA-NEPAD/APRM Boss, the meeting is compulsory for the country’s Second Peer Review process that will be held later this year.
“We highly regret any inconvenience caused to all invited participants, the new date accommodates more critical stakeholders at the session.
“The all-important meeting session required for the country’s Second-Generation Review in 2020,” she said.

She said during the event members of APRM Nigeria’s National structure, made up of the Focal Point Mr Boss Mustapha(Secretary to the Government of the Federation), National Governing Council (NGC) of APRM Nigeria and its Secretariat headed by the National Coordinator would be more intimated by APRM Continental, experts in Peer Review process on their roles and how they could be successfully delivered.

The National Coordinator also added that representatives of APRM Nigeria’s sister agencies in Kenya and Uganda, the two nations that had completed their Second- Generation Review would share their experiences on the exercise with Nigeria.
She said the two-day event would be highly interactive as experience and lessons learned from the 2nd cycle APRM review of Kenya and Uganda would be shared with further guidance by experts and APRM Continental higher structures.

The session will also outline a plan of action/ roadmap defining the key priority areas in the process of the 2nd cycle review and how to effectively sensitize various segments of the society about the exercise.

Ministers, all the 36 state governors and Minister of Federal Capital Territory, heads of security agencies, Civil Society Organisations and the Media practitioners were among the dignitaries expected at the event.

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

Published

4 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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