Basketball

Dallaji U17 Basketball Tournament: Kaduna Coach Optimistic Of Beating Kano In Final

Published

4 years ago

August 15, 2021

The U17 Basketball team coach of Kaduna, Simsim Morrison is optimistic that his boys are capable of defeating the hosts, Kano in today’s final of the Noah Dallaji U17 Basketball Tournament.

Simsim said the confidence level of his boys rises as game proceeds saying that it will be an advantage to his boys to win the title.

He said, “in the beginning of the competition when we saw what was happening, we were a bit doubting whether we can be in the final but as game proceeds we have confidence in the players that they will go far because they improve game after game.

He said the aim of playing in the final almost became impossible after losing to Buachi in the preliminary stage.

“But when we lost to Bauchi we thought that was the end of the road but we went back and re-strategise again and I told the guys that we can actually make it to the final. I don’t see Kano or any team as the best in this competition. We’re capable of beating any team. As for me in this competition my boys are the best and ready to beat Kano.”

Meanwhile, Ibrahim Maku, Kano U17 Basketball team coach played down Simsim threats insisting that Kaduna cannot stop them from lifting the trophy.

“We have learned from our mistakes after our loss to Plateau in the group stage, we went back and planned again.

“I have sat down with my boys to identify and fix our weakness . The opponent I know are a good team but the commitment of my boys will see them through.

The same tempo we use to beat Plateau in the Semi-final is the same we will bring into the game in the final to bring smiles into the faces of Kano residents.” He concluded.

Kaduna defeated Kebbi in the Semi-final of the competition to set a final battle with Kano who edged Plateau in the semis.

The final match is scheduled for Sunday (today) at the Indoor Sports Hall of Sani Abacha stadium, Kano.

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Basketball

Senate Set to Endorse 30% Value Addition Requirement for Raw Materials

Published

3 weeks ago

May 20, 2025

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The Nigerian Senate has assured Nigerians and Africans that the 30% raw materials bill would be passed this week and transmitted to the House of Representatives for concurrence.
Senate President, Sen. Godswill Akpabio gave the assurance on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the inaugural Africa Raw Materials Summit 2025, held on Tuesday in Abuja, with the theme, “Shaping the Future of Africa’s Resource Landscape.”

Speaking through the Chairman, Senate Committee on Science and Technology, Sen. Aminu Abbas, Akpabio said, “I can assure you that the 30% value addition bill before the Senate will be passed this week and transmitted to the House Representatives for concurrence.”

Earlier in his speech, he said, “In the Nigerian Senate, we have resolved to be proactive in addressing this structural imbalance. It is in this spirit that I reaffirm our full legislative backing for the 30% Minimum Value-Addition Bill, currently under consideration. This groundbreaking bill mandates that no raw material of Nigerian origin shall be exported without undergoing a minimum of 30% local value addition—whether through processing, refining, packaging, or industrial transformation.

“This legislation is not intended to stifle trade; rather, it is designed to ignite domestic enterprise, create jobs, attract capital, and build resilient value chains that benefit our people.”

“We must reject the historic pattern in which Africa merely supplies inputs while others reap the benefits of innovation, branding, and global market control.” he added.

“It is my hope that this model will be replicated across African nations, with regional centres of excellence established to share data, technologies, and best practices in raw material development.”

He used the opportunity to call on African countries to replicate the legislation in their countries to boost their economies.

“Permit me, therefore, to echo the call for the adoption of an Abuja Declaration on Raw Materials and Industrial Transformation in Africa. Let this declaration not merely reside in summit communiqués but become a living charter—a reference for executive action, legislative alignment, and investment mobilisation.

“Let it guide our representations at the African Union, the G20, and global trade forums where Africa’s voice must no longer be that of a supplier, but that of a producer,” he said.

The Minister of Science Innovation and Technology, Chief Geoffrey Innaji, speaking through the Minister of Transport, said “We are deploying digital tools, traceability infrastructure, and research-to-industry pathways to strengthen intra-African trade under AfCFTA. This is how Africa moves from extraction to transformation—from potential to prosperity.

“Let this summit send a clear message: Africa will no longer export its future in raw form. Our minerals will power industries, our crops will feed global markets, and our youth will drive innovation,” he said.

On his part, the Minister of State for Industry, John Owen, in his speech noted that, “with African continental free trade area, I believe that a lot of opportunities are already being opened to see how we can do much more than we are currently doing, and the statistics in terms of export trade should be less in terms of exporting raw materials and more in terms of exporting finished goods.”

Commenting on the Summit, the Director General Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike-Mounso, in his speech said, “Today, in the heart of Africa, we gather not merely for a summit, but for a solemn declaration: Africa shall no longer be the warehouse of raw potential, but the workshop of refined prosperity.”

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