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Youth Minister Dare, Receives New NYSC Director General

Published

4 years ago

February 8, 2023

The Honourable Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Mr. Sunday Dare has received the newly appointed Director General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig. Gen. Yusha’u Dogara Ahmed.
While receiving the D-G today in his office in Abuja, Dare called on him to ensure the maintenance of culture, discipline and training among the Corp members.

He observed that NYSC which is the largest concentration of the nation’s Youth serves as a beacon for them and thus needs concerted efforts by its management for the psychological, social and mental well-being of participants especially after living their various school environments and getting themselves prepared for wider challenges.

The Minister explained that President Muhammadu Buhari, taking cognisance of the role of Youth in the socio-economic development of the country and in a bid to ensure the realization of the goals of the founding fathers of the scheme, increased Corp members’ monthly allowances from N19,000 to N38,000.

*”It takes a President that has the interest of the youth at heart, to invest in their development. That is why, there is increase in allowances of the NYSC from N19,000 to N38,000, far above the minimum wage”*, he said.

Dare added that in furtherance of plans to equip the youth for self reliance and enterpreneurship, the National Youth Trust Fund project will in a few weeks time, be assented to by Mr. President and commended the Senate and House Committee members on Youth and Sports as well as the former Nigerian President, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (Rtd) for their commitment to the realization of the Fund and sustenance of the Scheme.

The Minister who disclosed that the Scheme will be celebrating its 50 years Anniversary in May 2023, called on the new Director General to put in relentless effort towards ensuring the successful organization of the Programme, urging him further not to only maintain the various initiatives, policies and programmes put in place by his predecessors but also ensure that he brings in his technical knowhow to help drive the scheme so as to meet up with contemporary realities.

Earlier in his remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Alhaji Ismaila Abubakar congratulated the new DG on his appointment and assured that the Ministry will continue to provide an enabling environment for the sustainability of the Scheme in line with dreams of its founding fathers.

Also speaking, the Director-General, NYSC, Brig. Gen. Yusha’u Dogara Ahmed said his visit was to afford him opportunity to officially introduce himself to the Minister, Permanent Secretary and Top Management Staff of the Ministry.

He thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for finding him worthy of the appointment, promising that he would bring his wealth of experience to bear on the development of the Corps members as well as sustainance of the Scheme.

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Alake Inaugurates Nigeria-US Solid Minerals Committee, Dismisses $700bn Claim, Says No Assets Sold

Published

17 hours 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.

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