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The Compromise Of Enugu Endsars Protest By Desperate Politicians.

Published

6 years ago

October 20, 2020

By Jeff Ejiofor

A great Russian philosopher, African Spir, said that when a man makes of his personal interests the mainspring of his life and he is greedy to make use of everything that can benefit him, he naturally enters into conflict with other persons, acting also in their interests, hence the disagreements that can become a hundred years old, and drive whole generations to mutual hate. This view captures what transpired in Enugu last week when, out of desperation, some selfish politicians, determined to undermine the goodwill of Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, hijacked a peaceful protest by Enugu youths against police brutality and turned it into a political witchhunt.

These self-serving elements went as far as hiring popular musicians of other extractions to mock the government and the good people of Enugu State. It is on record that the current EndSARS protests across the country have goals that have been collectively articulated by the initiators which cannot be localized by any means. The sudden appearance of some popular igbo musicians believed to be working for fifth columnists in Enugu State at the protest venue to disrupt the peace is most regrettable and condemnable.

Apparently, there is a limit to everything life, and It is obvious most of us are frustrated because of the nation’s economic challenges, but the pertinent fact we have refused to realize is whether the limited resources available to states now are sufficient enough to address the various problems of our people.

Nobody wants to consider this obvious fact. What we do is to sit down with our smartphones and ignorantly abuse those in government with so much disdain.

In Enugu State, for instance, Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi came into office when the country and the whole world were in an economic recession. Unlike his predecessor, Sullivan Chime, who enjoyed excess crude oil funds and huge federal allocations, he has been doing his best to pay the new minimum wage to state workers, which most states in Nigeria are yet to implement.

In spite of all that, he has carried out numerous developmental projects especially in the rural areas which are the primary focus of his administration. He has also continued to maintain existing facilities, service inherited debt, and keep the state peaceful and secure.

As a man with a conscience, Gov. Ugwuanyi ensured that those in the rural areas, who have the population strength of the state and are unfortunately not on social media to express their joy, were given a sense of belonging.

Despite doing all these, his administration has not borrowed loans to finance projects. Even the FG bailout funds given to the 36 states in 2015 were judiciously used in Enugu and the Senate confirmed it. Enugu under Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has refused to play to the gallery by mortgaging the future of the next generation as some states like Ebonyi are doing with white elephant projects. Ugwuanyi does not want to create a problem for the next generation in the name of borrowing to finance projects that may be of no immediate economic value. He works within the framework of the current economic realities and he is achieving results.

The past governments did little in the rural areas of Enugu State in terms of development and that is the gap Ugwuanyi is diligently trying to bridge.

In this COVID-19 era, Ugwuanyi has demonstrated quality leadership in responding to the challenges of protecting the health of Ndi Enugu.

Nobody here can deny that the evidence is glaring for all to see. Enugu was among the few states that did not lose souls to security agencies at the peak of lockdown when some state chief executives exposed their citizens to danger in a bid to enforce sit at home order. Enugu is getting its first-ever Infectious Disease Hospital, courtesy Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

His only sin is that he is concentrating development in rural areas where the population constitute the silent majority. Those that were abandoned for ages and had accepted their fate.

Even at that, the rural development policy of his administration has paid off and it reflected on his reelection victory last year, which he won with an overwhelming 95.54 percent of valid votes cast. However, this his good intention to remember the poor, long-neglected and lowly, did not go down well with the youth in Enugu city whose only hobby is to post and comment irresponsibly on social media, where they express their anger freely without knowing the socio-political implications.

Nonetheless, patriotic and well-meaning Enugu youths are aware of the gimmicks, and therefore urge our amiable governor not to be discouraged, but remain calm, undaunted, and focused in his determination to maintain peace and order in Enugu State. We implore him to continue providing dividends of democracy to Ndi Enugu irrespective of the provocation from any angle. We are with him, and we remain resolutely behind him.

For those selfish and desperate politicians bent on undermining the interest of Enugu people at any slightest opportunity, the time for reckoning is near. Phyno and Flavour, who allowed themselves to be used for such an inglorious dirty outing should also know that Nigerians are wiser and will pay them back in equal measures when the chips are down. Those seeking to politicize Peaceful protest designed by the youths of Nigeria to press home our collective grievances will not go unpunished, posterity will judge them someday. They should know that nothing is hidden under the sun, people are seeing them and all what they are doing in the name of activism. What a man sows, he reaps.

Enugu is in the hands of God Almighty

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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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