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FG Unveils Pad Bank For NYSC Female workforce, Corps Members others

Published

4 years ago

May 24, 2022

By Joel Ajayi

The Minister for Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen has unveiled Pad Bank for the use of NYSC female staff, Corps Members and other visitors that may have emergency menstrual flow while in the office.

She stated the need for continuous sensitization of the girl child and femalefolk on menstrual and personal hygiene, campaign against gender-based violence and change the negative social norms among the female folk.
Tallen added that efforts should be intensified on the sensitization on the enrolment, orientation and education of the girl child.

She disclosed this on Tuesday while unveiling sanitary Pad Bank at the NYSC National Directorate Headquarters in Maitama, Abuja.

She disclosed that menstruation makes the girl child an easy prey for early marriage, sexual violence, teenage pregnancy, school drop-out, trafficking, among others.
“It is on this note that the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs mainstreamed menstrual and health management hygiene programmes and intervention to promote awareness on menstruation and hygiene and build capacities of women and adolescents to see menstruation as a normal biological process”, Tallen said.

She urged Nigerians to embrace love and peaceful co-existence as election periods are drawing near.

“I am appealing to all Nigerians, especially our future leaders to give peace a chance. Everyone has a role to play and we must all be peace ambassadors”, the Minister said.

NYSC Director General, Brigadier General Muhammad Kaku Fadah in his address which was read by the Director of ICT, Mrs Christy Uba, said the Scheme would continue to make its workplace conducive, especially as it relates to the female gender, revealing that ever since gender mainstreaming became a national issue, the NYSC keyed into it and internalised gender mainstreaming into its activities and programmes.

He added that the Scheme has made giant strides on capacity building of gender officers and sensitization and advocacy campaigns in rural communities.
“I believe the choice of the National Youth Service Corps as one of the MDAs to be honoured by the presence of the Honourable Minister to unveil this Pad Bank is trajectory to the Scheme’s commitment to effective and efficient service delivery”, he said.

General Fadah stated further that the unveiling of the Pad Bank will launch a new era of partnership between the NYSC and Federal Ministry of Women Affairs especially in the areas of gender sensitivity, provision of Pad Bank and support to the female staff in the workplace and during Orientation programmes, among others.

The Head of Reforms Unit, NYSC, Abdullahi Yusuf Baba said that the main objective of the initiative was to support career women not to leave their workplace or absent themselves from duty during their monthly flow, adding that benefits of the initiative include the provision of free pads to female staff members and visitors who may have emergency flow in the office.

Abdullahi stated further that since 2014 when the issue of menstruation gained global attention, the 28th day of May every year has been set aside as the World Menstrual and Hygiene Day to create awareness.

He said that the Director General, having taken cognisance of women’s schedule of work approved the establishment of Pad Bank in the Scheme.

“This is due to the fact that menstrual flow doesn’t give notice and this can lead to lateness to work, absenteeism from workplace and also discomfort on the affected staff while at work, all which can contribute immensely to low staff productivity”, he added.

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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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