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LESSONS FROM EDO: ENUGU STATE GODFATHERS TAKE NOTE.

Published

6 years ago

September 23, 2020

BY CHRIS CHIME

The recently concluded gubernatorial elections In Edo State threw up a whole lot of lessons especially for us here in Enugu Sate and may have opened up new possibilities in the way elections are conducted in Nigeria.

I will start with the lessons; especially for those posturing as godfathers, with the conviction that their Godless ambitions must be realized, no matter whose ox is gored.

Over the past twenty two years in the Coal City State, we have held sacrosanct the gentlemanly and brotherly understanding that for peace to prevail, the three senatorial zones making up the State will, in rotations of eight years each, produce the man or woman who will occupy the hallowed seat located in the Lion Building, as Governor.

Starting with Enugu East, Governor Chimaroke Nnamani emerged and without sweat completed his allocated eight years. Enugu West followed seamlessly and produced Governor Sullivan Chime, while Enugu North, the last zone in the rotational arrangement, is currently enjoying its own privilege, ably represented by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

With the rotation gone full circle, it is then preposterous that, instead of receiving heartwarming news about advanced arrangements towards anointing a credible candidate from Enugu East Zone, rumors are emanating from some quarters that a self-styled godfather from Enugu West is positioning to contest the gubernatorial seat come 2023.

By such brazen contemplation, if there is any truth to it, the suspect will be attempting to truncate an arrangement that had engendered peace and tranquility in our political space these past years.

We will recall that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the erstwhile Chairman of APC and the acclaimed godfather of Edo politics, drunk with inordinate and blind ambition, attempted to make a jest of the people’s will, just the same manner our own self-appointed godfather in Enugu State is presently doing. At a kangaroo session involving some selected members of the APC Working Committee, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, in a bid to flex godfather muscles, deposed the sitting APC governor, Godwin Obaseki as the party’s flag bearer, hoping to deny him the chance of a second tenure in office.

While watching that session on Channels Television, it was obvious that his actions were brazen and had no root in tactical reasoning. He simply wanted to prove to the world that as godfather, he had the right to remove a sitting Governor, whether he was loved by the people or not. For that irrational action, he paid dearly. His appointed candidate not only lost, but his political wings were permanently clipped.

With a similar scene playing out in Enugu State, where the assumed godfather is unabashedly posturing to subvert the people’s will and overturn a standing arrangement, just to gain political power, the Edo State outcome is most likely going to be replicated. If he eventually decides to put his ill-advised plot to test, his fall from grace will surely turn out to be more historic and more thunderous than anything experienced by Oshiomhole.

On yet another level, the conduct of the Edo elections marked a watershed in the efforts by INEC to reform the electoral process with a view to ensuring free and credible elections. For the first time, we witnessed a process where officially, results were captured and uploaded directly to the portals at the local government collation centers and then subsequently to the State Collation Center where they were promptly announced. With that simple resort to technology, it was made impossible for any thief to snatch ballot boxes while they were being transported to either the local government or state centers. In effect, the hitherto easy and very wide route to subverting the people’s mandate was dramatically narrowed, to the chagrin of our corrupt politicians.

If INEC is able to muster the political will to institute this system and subsequently deploy it in future elections, then the Enugu godfather, who must have been emboldened by the reasoning that he could always rely on the old system to win elections even as a very unpopular candidate, will have no option but to think twice.

However, most likely, he could decide to ignore the writing on the wall and go ahead to choose the path of infamy, by bulldozing his way through the ranks. If that be the case, then destiny awaits him at the end of the tunnel and will most surely deal him a blow he might not be in a hurry to forget.

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Business

Turning Africa’s Raw Materials Into Wealth: The ARMS 2026 Industrial Agenda

Published

3 days ago

September 29, 2026

The Gleamer

By Joel Ajayi

For decades, Africa’s vast natural resources have powered industries and economies far beyond the continent, while many African countries have remained largely exporters of unprocessed commodities and importers of finished products.

That familiar pattern is now coming under renewed scrutiny as policymakers, researchers, investors and industrialists seek to change the direction of Africa’s resource economy.

At the centre of that conversation is the second edition of the Africa Raw Materials Summit (ARMS 2026), scheduled for October 19 and 20 at the Abuja Continental Hotel, Abuja, under the theme: “From African Feedstock to African Factories.”

Organised by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), the summit is being positioned as more than another gathering of policymakers and industry stakeholders. It is intended to provide a platform for confronting the structural challenges that have kept African raw materials largely disconnected from local manufacturing.

Africa has for years operated largely within a “pit-to-port” economic model, exporting raw materials while importing expensive finished products.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the summit on Tuesday in Abuja, the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of RMRDC, Prof. Nnanyelugo Martin Ike-Muonso, said the event would bring together policymakers, investors, researchers, technology providers and industrialists to develop practical strategies for transforming Africa’s abundant natural resources into industrial wealth.

The challenge, therefore, is not simply the abundance of resources, but the continent’s ability to transform those resources into industrial value, employment, technology and wealth within Africa.

Nigeria alone, according to the RMRDC, has more than $582.4 billion in documented non-renewable natural resources, while the wider continent possesses substantial deposits of critical minerals, agricultural raw materials and industrial feedstock.

Yet, the benefits of this resource endowment have often been constrained by inadequate processing capacity, weak infrastructure, limited technology, financing gaps and fragmented regional value chains.

From Dialogue to Industrial Action

ARMS 2026 builds on the maiden edition held in May 2025, which attracted more than 1,000 delegates from across the world.

The inaugural summit also witnessed the unveiling of the Ten-Year Raw Materials Transformation Roadmap (2025–2034) by the Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owen Enoh.

The roadmap was designed around areas including technological capability, climate-resilient processing and backward integration, establishing a policy framework for greater domestic utilisation of Africa’s raw materials.

The second edition is expected to move the conversation further by bringing policy, capital, technology and industrial stakeholders around practical mechanisms for turning raw materials into locally manufactured products.

One of the major proposals highlighted by the RMRDC is the 30 per cent Mandatory Value Addition Bill, which seeks to establish a statutory minimum level of value addition to Nigerian raw materials before export.

The Council says the proposed framework could support job creation, import substitution, foreign-exchange conservation and increased manufacturing contribution to the economy.

Building the Infrastructure for Value Addition

The industrial transformation envisaged by ARMS 2026 goes beyond legislation.

A major concern is the “missing middle” between where raw materials are produced and where factories are located.

Poor transportation networks, inadequate cold-chain facilities, weak rural roads, limited testing and certification infrastructure and border-related delays can make locally sourced materials more expensive and less competitive.

Consequently, logistics and infrastructure constitute one of the five principal pillars of the summit.

The objective is to develop more reliable corridors connecting farms and mines with processing centres and manufacturing facilities, thereby reducing losses and improving the movement of industrial inputs.

The Digital Dimension

Technology is also becoming an important part of the Council’s strategy.

The RMRDC says it has developed the Nigeria Integrated Information Statistical System for Raw Materials and Products (NISSRAMP), described as a digital repository containing information on feedstock deposits, specifications, production outputs and industrial absorption rates.

The Council has also highlighted its transition towards paperless operations and its certification as a Data Controller/Processor of Major Importance by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission.

Such digital infrastructure could provide investors and manufacturers with better information about the availability and characteristics of raw materials while supporting more informed industrial planning.

Turning Waste Into Industrial Inputs

Another major component of ARMS 2026 is the proposed expansion of the circular economy.

The summit will examine how agricultural by-products, mine tailings, scrap metals and biomass can be recovered and reused as inputs for new production processes rather than being treated simply as waste.

The RMRDC argues that such an approach could lower raw-material costs while supporting more sustainable and climate-resilient manufacturing systems.

For Africa, where industrial expansion must increasingly balance economic development with environmental considerations, waste industrialisation could become an important part of the continent’s manufacturing conversation.

From National Production to African Value Chains

The African Continental Free Trade Area is another important element of the summit’s agenda.

The RMRDC sees AfCFTA as an opportunity to create regional value chains in which raw materials sourced in one African country can be processed and supplied to manufacturers in another.

Under such a model, Africa would move beyond simply exporting commodities to external markets and develop stronger internal networks for supplying chemicals, refined minerals, agricultural inputs and other industrial materials across national borders.

This approach places regional integration at the heart of Africa’s industrialisation strategy.

Bridging Research and Capital

A recurring weakness in many developing economies is the gap between research and commercialisation.

Innovations may emerge from universities, research institutions and laboratories without receiving the financing, equipment or market connections required to become commercially viable.

ARMS 2026 intends to address that gap through technology commercialisation and capital linkages, connecting research outputs with investors, development finance institutions and industrial off-takers.

The RMRDC has also cited partnerships with the Bank of Industry for commercial-scale post-harvest processing and a South-South technology-transfer partnership with the National Innovation Centre par Excellence in Shanghai, China.

A Larger Industrial Conversation

The scale of ARMS 2026 is expected to be significantly larger than the maiden edition.

The organisers project more than 1,800 delegates from all 54 African countries and global industrial partners.

The programme will feature high-level policy dialogues, technical panels, an advanced raw materials and technology exhibition, industrial site visits and the African Raw Materials Industry Awards.

The exhibition, in particular, is expected to showcase locally fabricated processing machinery, advanced domestic materials, green chemicals and engineered commercial inputs.

Beyond the speeches and exhibitions, however, the real significance of ARMS 2026 will ultimately depend on what happens after the summit.

Africa’s challenge has never been a shortage of raw materials. The more difficult question has been how to transform those resources into factories, products, skilled employment, technology and sustainable economic opportunities.

For Nigeria and the rest of the continent, the proposed shift from “pit-to-port” to “feedstock-to-factory” therefore represents a broader debate about the future structure of African economies.

ARMS 2026 seeks to place that debate firmly on the industrial agenda — with value addition, technology, finance, infrastructure, circular production and regional trade at the centre.

If the commitments and partnerships generated by the summit translate into measurable industrial activity, the event could provide another platform for Africa to examine how its enormous resource base can support stronger domestic manufacturing.

The message from the organisers is clear: the continent’s raw materials should not only leave African soil as commodities; they should increasingly become the foundation for African industrial production

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