Featured

Solidarity Rally: CSOs hail Buhari, Emefiele – demand arrest of BDC operators

Published

5 years ago

September 22, 2021

Members of All Civil Society Groups led by Coalition of Civil Society Groups gave thumbs up to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, for ensuring that Nigeria’s economy continue to survive despite the unstable low price of crude oil in the International Market, Covid-19 pandemic and the multifaceted insecurity challenges facing the country.

The group praised the government and gave testimonial of achievements of the present government.

The Coalition of CSO stated this on Wednesday, in Abuja, in a mega solidarity rally held at the popular Unity fountain, in support of President Buhari and CBN Governor Emefiele in their effort to stabilize Nigeria’s economy.

Addressing the Journalists at the rally, the President of group, Etuk Bassey Williams, said the numerous achievements by the Government under the leadership of President Buhari cannot be possible without the support of the able lieutenants appointed to head the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the able leadership of Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who has made efforts to turn around the negative indices of the economy as a result of good policies.

He said: “We applaud the recorded achievements in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the small Farm holders. We also appreciate his effort towards assisting our industries to meet up with international standards in the quality of goods produced for export.

“Today, many Nigerians have benefited from wonderful policies of the CBN such as the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme (YEDP), Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme (AADS), the Agri-business/Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS). These policies have impacted positively the lives of many Nigerians. Jobs have been created and millions of Nigerians are happy and grateful.

“The Anchor Borrowers Programme that has increased yield per hectare and food security in the country is also a plus to the CBN. This policy, among others, is in support of the drive by the Government to diversify the economy and stimulate growth in the agriculture sector.

“It is without doubt that the effort of CBN in ensuring protection of Bank customers, effective supervision of Deposit Money Banks and Other Financial Institutions; and deepening of financial inclusion through an effective banking and payments system in recent times has yielded positive results.

” CBN Governor Emefiele’s support for the Creative Industries through the Creative Industry Financing Initiative (CIFI), which is being implemented in collaboration with the Bankers’ Committee, is a huge boost in the Creative Industry.”

The group expressed displeasure over some enemies of progress whose work is to sabotage the economy of Nigeria: “We frown at the economic sabotage going on in the Forex market. We condemn a situation where the disparity between the official banks exchange rates for dollar/naira will be too high, thereby creating inflation.

” We applaud the sincere effort to salvage the naira and the CBN stop of sales of Forealex to Bureau De Change (BDC) Operators who exploit and artificially inflate dollar/naira exchange. We applaud this move to discourage illicit financial flow, BDC racketeering and indiscriminate round tripping.

“We hereby call on the Governor to suspend the activities of the BDC operators in totality and supply money to the commercial banks

” We also demand that a monitoring committee that comprises of EFCC, CBN and NFIU be set up to check and arrest BDC operators who go to the Banks to buy off Dollars using fake application.

” Also, we applaud the CBN introduction of e-naira, we are confident that this policy will stimulate economic activities that will result into job and wealth creation.

” Based on the recorded achievements listed above, we thus call for more support to the leadership of the country and the leadership of CBN.”

Share on Facebook

Featured

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

Published

5 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.

Share on Facebook