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Corruption: Covid-19 Procurements Inflated By Govt MDA’s

Published

6 years ago

October 29, 2020

The Gleamer

…Ministry of Health buys face mask at N10,000 each

….Stakeholders kick

Joel Ajayi

Federal Government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies have been indicted reports of making inflated payments on Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and other items purchased to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.

The stakeholders were reacting to investigations by DATAPHYTE and Civic Hive which exposed government MDAs of breaching procurement processes in the fight against COVID-19 on Wednesday in Abuja, during a radio program, PUBLIC CONSCIENCE produced by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development, PRIMORG.

It will be recalled that an investigation by DATAPHYTE in July 2020, indicted five government MDAs to have awarded COVID-19 emergency procurements worth ₦451.18 million to unverifiable contractors.

While CIVICHIVE’s investigation also exposed how the Federal Ministry of Health awarded 15 contracts worth N444.28 million out of 29 COVID-19 contracts to a single company.

Victor Ndukwe, an Editor at DATAPHYTE stated that there was less value for the monies spent by MDAs on procurement of COVID-19 PPEs. Stressing that despite COVID-19 pandemic prompted emergency spending, accountability was lacking in the procurements made by MDAs, alleging that companies and contractors took advantage of the times to siphon public funds.

Ndukwe lamented that despite the report on the ground, no government MDA or individual has been questioned by anti-graft agencies or was any panel set up by the Federal Government to look into the allegations.

On holding MDAs accountable, he noted that the Bureau of Public Procurement can only report a breach of procurement processes to the National Assembly which takes another long process.

He advocated for real-time auditing of the MDAs to enable the nation to curb corruption in the procurement process.

“The way forward will be real-time auditing and as soon as these expenditures are blown out of order, whoever that should be brought to book should be brought to book immediately,” Ndukwe advised.

The Manager of CIVIC HIVE, Iyanuoluwa Bolarinwa who featured on the program agreed that there was no value for money spent by MDAs as far as COVID-19 expenditures were concerned.

His words: “As at the time of the investigation, N3.3 billion was going to be spent by just seven MDAs. “The contracts as a whole, there were a lot of shrouded deals that were done and it made us raised questions for example; The Ministry of health spent N37 million for just one thousand eight hundred and eight pieces of facemasks which literary put the facemasks at about N10,000 each when we were done with our calculation.

“We also found out that some of these companies and contractors do not exist in the Corporate Affairs Commission.”

Bolarinwa frowned at the bloated prices for PPEs and had these to add: “with the scarce resource at Nigeria’s disposal, we should do something different. How can one company get 15 out of 29 contracts from a particular ministry, that is actually a red flag,” he moaned.

On her part, the founder, Good Governance Awareness Initiative (GGAI), Maureen Onwukwe, lauded DATAPHYTE, and CIVIC HIVE for the investigations, as well as PRIMORG for amplifying the reports.

She expressed shock that such reports have not been acted upon by relevant government agencies and anti-graft agencies. She stressed that corruption of this magnitude will definitely affect foreign and local investors in Nigeria.

She called on President Muhammadu Buhari to swiftly swing into action, investigate and bring to book those found culpable of taking advantage of the pandemic to steal public funds by inflating payments. While urging citizens to always hold governments at all levels accountable.

The syndicated radio program is produced by PRIMORG with support from the MACARTHUR FOUNDATION.

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Strategic Partnerships, Diaspora Investment and Improved Workforce Critical to Industrialization-DG RMRDC

Published

2 days ago

November 12, 2026

The Gleamer

By: Stella Azi and Adaora Adibe

The Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, has called for a strategic shift from the exportation of raw commodities to domestic processing, manufacturing and value addition, declaring that Nigeria possesses enormous untapped raw material resources capable of driving industrialisation, creating jobs and strengthening the country’s economic competitiveness.

Prof. Ike-Muonso made this submission in a lecture titled Unlocking Nigeria’s Raw Material Value Chain for Industrialization, Manufacturing and Competitiveness, where he presented an extensive assessment of Nigeria’s resource endowments, industrial challenges and emerging investment opportunities across agricultural commodities, solid minerals and waste-based raw materials.

The lecture highlighted a combined US$2.65 trillion global market opportunity across 30 major raw material value chains, comprising 12 agricultural value chains valued at US$932 billion, 11 mineral value chains worth US$1.352 trillion and seven circular-economy value chains estimated at US$366 billion.

According to the RMRDC Boss, Nigeria must move beyond the traditional approach of extracting and exporting raw materials to building competitive domestic industries that transform these resources into intermediate products, industrial inputs and finished goods for local consumption and international markets.

He observed that the country’s manufacturing sector has struggled to sustain its 2014 peak, with its contribution to real Gross Domestic Product declining from 9.64 per cent in 2014 to 8.05 per cent in 2025, representing a 16.5 per cent decline. He also drew attention to the increasing cost of raw material imports, which rose to US$20.5 billion in 2025, approximately six times the 2020 level.

He explained that the growing dependence on imported industrial inputs exposes Nigerian manufacturers to foreign exchange volatility, increases production costs and weakens the competitiveness of locally manufactured products.

Prof. ke-Muonso stressed that the solution lies in developing domestic raw material value chains through deliberate investment in processing facilities, research and development, technology, infrastructure and stronger linkages between producers, processors and manufacturers.

He identified agriculture, solid minerals and industrial waste as three major resource platforms for Nigeria’s industrial transformation, stating the country’s significant production capacity and the enormous opportunities available for downstream processing.

Ike-Muonso noted that Nigeria produces over 63 million metric tonnes of cassava annually, making it the world’s largest producer, while also maintaining strong positions in cocoa, cashew, sesame, palm oil and cotton. However, more than 80 per cent of agricultural output leaves farms without adequate processing, resulting in the loss of significant economic value and industrial opportunities.

In the solid minerals sector, he identified more than 44 commercially viable minerals across over 500 locations, including lithium, gold, barite, bitumen, iron ore and high-grade limestone, describing them as strategic resources capable of supporting steel production, energy storage, electrification and advanced manufacturing.

The DG further drew attention to Nigeria’s industrial and agro-waste resources, noting that the country generates over 32 million tonnes of solid waste annually. He explained that agricultural residues, cassava peels, scrap metals, plastics and electronic waste could serve as important feedstock for bio-fertilisers, industrial chemicals, recycled polymers, energy production and other manufacturing applications.

In the agricultural sector, the DG identified cassava and industrial starch, cotton and natural textiles, natural rubber and elastomers, oil palm and oleochemicals, maize derivatives and cocoa processing as priority areas requiring increased investment.

He explained that processing agricultural commodities into industrial starch, sweeteners, textiles, technical rubber, specialty fats and other intermediate products would enable Nigeria to capture more value from its agricultural resources while reducing dependence on imported industrial inputs.

For the minerals sector, he highlighted crude oil-to-olefins and petrochemicals, lithium and energy storage, iron ore and steel, rare earth elements, bauxite and aluminium, and copper and electrification as strategic investment opportunities.

He particularly emphasised the importance of moving beyond mineral extraction into beneficiation, refining, battery precursors, industrial chemicals, metal fabrication and advanced materials production.

On the circular economy, Prof. Ike-Muonso identified electronic waste recovery, scrap metal recycling, plastic waste processing, agro-waste valorisation and battery recycling as emerging industrial opportunities.

He explained that transforming waste into productive industrial feedstock would not only reduce environmental pollution but also create new manufacturing industries, generate employment and reduce the importation of valuable industrial materials.

He noted that to address the structural challenges confronting raw material-based industrialisation, the DG highlighted the strategic interventions of the RMRDC, particularly the proposed 30% Value Addition Bill and the Nigeria Integrated Information Statistical System for Raw Materials and Products (NISSRAMP).

He described the 30% Value Addition Bill as an important policy instrument designed to encourage domestic processing of raw materials before export, strengthen local manufacturing capacity and guarantee access to essential raw materials for Nigerian industries, and NISSRAMP as a critical data infrastructure that would improve access to verified information on the availability, location and quality of raw materials.

According to him, the combination of appropriate policy instruments and reliable resource data would help de-risk investments, improve transparency and strengthen confidence in Nigeria’s raw material sector.

He emphasised the importance of collaboration among government, academia and industry in developing bankable projects, sharing investment risks and accelerating the establishment of processing and manufacturing facilities.

Professor Ike-Muonso called on Nigerians in the diaspora and other local and international investors to take advantage of the opportunities available in Nigeria’s raw material sector.

He identified industrial processing parks, mineral beneficiation and refining, agro-industrial platforms, circular-material processing, industrial input manufacturing and enabling infrastructure as viable investment platforms.

He noted that diaspora investors could contribute beyond financial capital by bringing technology, international business networks, governance standards, technical expertise and access to global markets.

He maintained that Nigeria’s industrial transformation requires coordinated investment across the entire value chain, from raw material sourcing and aggregation to processing, manufacturing, certification and export development.

Professor Ike-Muonso stressed that the country’s industrial future would depend not merely on the volume of raw materials extracted but on the capacity to transform them into competitive products that meet domestic and international market requirements.

He maintained that developing local value chains would stimulate industrial growth, create employment opportunities, diversify exports, conserve foreign exchange and deepen Nigeria’s technological capabilities.

Through its strategic interventions, the RMRDC is positioning itself as a critical bridge between resource availability, investment opportunities and industrial competitiveness, with the ultimate objective of transforming Nigeria from a predominantly raw material exporting economy into a strong manufacturing and value-adding nation.

Ike-Muonso has demonstrated this since assumption of office as the Director General/ CEO RMRDC in the area of capacity building, improved working conditions, promotion of merit, and maintaining a conducive environment that rewards excellence, innovation and dedication. This is evident in his institution of RMRDC training school, reward for winners of the RMRDC innovation challenge among others.

His commitment has brought recognition both nationally and internationally: Al-Jazirah double honour awards as Public Servant /Government Agency of the year 2024-2025 and the recent election as the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Representative on the Board of the World Association of Industrial and Technological Research Organisations (WAITRO) is a attestation to his commitment.

Concluding the lecture, the DG charged staff, researchers, manufacturers and investors to see themselves as nation builders in the new era of raw materials-led industrialization.

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