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Covid 19: Nigeria should be made, not marred- AUDA-NEPAD/APRM Boss

Published

7 years ago

March 27, 2020

Admin.

The world is gradually on lockdown to raging fire of a virus that is a
global pandemic,as Nigerians, let us once again prove our uniqueness as a people by
coming up with safe and productive solutions that can sustain us
beyond its reign and further elevate our status as a nation of global
relevance after it is confined into our past.

In a press statement signed by the Media Assistant to NC/CEO AUDA-NEPAD/APRM Nigeria Abolade Ogundimu on Friday in Abuja.

National Coordinator/Chief Executive Officer, African Union Development Agency- New Partnership for Africa’s Development/African Peer Review Mechanism( AUDA-NEPAD/APRM) Princess Gloria Akobundu, urged the general public in her solidarity message on the ongoing global phenomenon of Corona Virus Disease 2019, dubbed COVID-19.

According to Akobundu, the appeal become necessary so that Nigerians will continue to work alongside with governments in order
to ensure that, gradual lockdowns in the bid to stop the spread of
COVID-19 do not slide the nation into famine or redundancy.

“Without compromising any advice on social distancing and other safety
measures, let us come up with good and affordable alternatives to our
imported daily consumptions and supplements.

“The Federal Government, led by President Muhammadu Buhari
forthrightly, has been campaigning and supporting local productions
“that we should eat what we produce”, hence, its aggressive commitment
to food sufficiency through loans and other relief packages to farmers and players in other sectors of the economy,” she said.

Akobundu noted that FG’s policies on economic self-reliance before
COVID 19 outbreak were in tandem with AUDA programmes like
Comprehensive Agriculture Development Programme,CAADP; African
Medicines Regulatory Harmonization, AMRH; Agriculture and Food
Insecurity Risk Management (AFIRM), Fish Governance and Trade, Food
and Nutrition Security, Climate Smart Agriculture, Grow Africa among
others.

She also observed that in the bid to contain the spread within their
nations, COVID 19 has led to significant downward shift towards
Bilateral and multilateral relations, transportation of humans and
materials, leading to scarcity of drugs, disinfectants and protective
tools.

The National Coordinator therefore called on pharmacists and
technicians to strictly adhere to safety in their bid to stand in the
gap for the manufacturing of indigenous solutions to shortage of
disinfectants and protective tools.

“No better time for our local industries to thrive than now when all
borders(land, water and air) are shutdown to keep Corona Virus-19
(COVID-19) at bay, due to confirmation that almost all identified
cases have travel history traced to foreign countries.

“Despite our fledging status technology-wise, our agricultural produce are
highly good for consumption even as they are being processed with over
90 percent Indigenous Knowledge (IK).
“Let our pharmacists role up their sleeves and come up with safe
ideas that can end the virus and similar health challenges while
others invent technologies that are capable of increasing agricultural
yields and other products, without negative implication to health and
social wellbeing,” she added.

On daily increase of COVID 19 patients in the Country, Akobundu
called for vigilance and adherence to safety precautionary measures by
all and sundry, while wishing the patients God’s speed and positive
response to available treatments, saying the nation had been handling
the virus adequately.

The CEO concluded by reiterating the need for public maximum
cooperation with field officers and other stakeholders when the agency
begins Second Cycle Review of the Nation, saying their patriotic
advice were required by the Federal government to further develop the
nation.

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

Published

4 days 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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