Featured
Don’t reject Corps Members, FG Urge Employers
Joel Ajayi
The Federal Capital Territory Administration has appealed to all Corps employers not to reject any Corps Member posted to serve in their establishment, but rather provide enabling environments that would enable them perform their statutory responsibilities to their fatherland.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Capital Territory Administration, Abuja, Mr Olusade Adesola, stated this today at the closing Ceremony of the 2023 Batch ‘B’ Stream One Orientation Course held at the NYSC FCT Orientation Camp in Kubwa, Abuja.
He said every stakeholder must make the service year very memorable for all Corps Members.
Olusade whose address was read by the the Acting Mandate Secretary, FCT Social Development Secretariat, Mrs Justina Pawa appealed to the Corps Members to contribute their quota to national development by promoting the spirit of oneness, mutual co-existence, national unity and cohesion; and above all, peace and harmony in the country.
He lauded NYSC Management and other critical stakeholders for theirinvaluable contributions in mentoring Corps Members for leadership roles and self empowerment through its SAED programme.
“I urge Organized Private Sector (OPS), to open up their doors to accept Corps Members that will be posted to them to undergo the one-year compulsory service.
It is expected that no Company and Organization operating within the shores of Nigeria should flagrantly reject any Corps Member that is officially posted to them. As a mark of patriotism and responsibility to national development, the Organized Private Sector should consider the NYSC Scheme as an opportunity to give back to the society as a platform to demonstrate its Corporate Social Responsibility”, Olusade said.
He advised the Corps Members to take advantage of the Community Development Service with diligence, so as to make impact in their various host communities in a bid to create indelible imprints in the minds of the people of the various communities they are posted to, adding that excellence has a way of attracting recognition and reward.
The Permanent Secretary stated further that theFCT administration would not tolerate criminality, such asdrug abuse and other nefarious activities that are likely to put the lives of residents and their properties in danger.
He said the FCT Administration would continue to prioritize the welfare and as well as creating a befitting environment for Corps Members to operate.
In her address, the NYSC FCT Coordinator, Mrs Winifred Shopeka urged the 3,291 Corps Members to accept their postings in good faith and desist from acts of inducing rejections.
She also advised them to engage in post-camp training of Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development programme and perfect the vocational skills training they started in camp.
“NYSC has zero tolerance for night travels as this will only increase the risk of accident, but also make rescue difficult.
You are therefore advised to cut short your trips from six o’ clock in the evening and pass the night at NYSC lodges, military barracks and other safe location”, Shopeka said.
The NYSC Director General, Brigadier General Yusha’u Dogara Ahmed accompanied by the Director, Special Duties, Alhaji Musa Abubakar and Director, Press and Public Relations Mr Eddy Megwa also witnessed the ceremony alongside other dignitaries.
Business
Turning Africa’s Raw Materials Into Wealth: The ARMS 2026 Industrial Agenda
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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