Featured

5th Edition of NYG: FCT Coaches, Athletes Groans

Published

7 years ago

September 19, 2019

5th Edition of NYG: Coaches, Athletes Groans

…..I Regrets Going To Ilorin with FCT Team-Coach

Joel Ajayi

While other states athletes were receiving accolades left and right center as many are smiling to the bank the The Gleamer News confirmed that the portion of athletes and coaches were nothing but gnashing of teeth and full of regret.

Athletes and coaches of FCT at the just concluded National Youth Games NYG in Ilorin Kwara State have expressed their displeasured over the poor treatment from the FCT Sports Council, saying they regretted going to Ilorin with FCT team.

It will be recalled that The Gleamer News reported that 5 days to the commencement of the 2019 edition NYG in Ilorin, the Nation’s capital’s City team were not given adequate preparation as athletes were subjected to untidy preparation due to inability of FCT Administration to released fund for better preparation.

It was equally reported that during the games in Ilorin Officials of Team FCT and athletes were held hostage as they are unable to offset the balance for their accommodation fees.

Officials which includes the coaches and the sports association secretaries did not received a dime since their arrival at the University of Ilorin, the venue for the 5th National Youth Games. The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) had promised to get funds available for the annual Games which gave them the confidence to leave on credit but till Sunday, 15th September, 2019 (the last day of the tournament) a dime has not been paid to the coaches and athletes who represent FCT at the Youth Games.

Some of the officials who rented an apartment inside the school campus will not be released by the hostel staff as they are yet to pay for their accommodation. The hostel staffs have threatened not to allow them to move out of their apartment unless their money is paid today.

These and many agonies were the portions of FCT athletes and coaches at the just concluded tournament in Kwara state.

Narrating the ordeal one of the FCT coaches who doesn’t want his name to be mentioned said: “No support, nothing, they did not give the Athletes anything, I am the one taking care of the athletes with my money.

“They just abandoned us, they don’t even care about how are going to survive after we played, we won and they were informed, even at the final nobody came to see whether we survive or not.

“This is very sad. I regret going to Ilorin with FCT team, other state called me to come and coach them I say no, other state paid their athletes 40,000, I rejected such offer, and it was a bitter, lesson up till now, no allowance were given to us.

“I spoke with Director of Sports Mrs Dilichukwu even the track suit, they were given, we did not get, and they share it among themselves.”

When asked if accommodation and feeding were given? he replied: “Though They give us food and accommodation but the treatment was a bitter experience.”

Share on Facebook

Featured

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.

Share on Facebook