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Disquiets As Lack Of Funds Threatens Team FCT’s Ahead Edo 2020 NSF

Published

7 years ago

December 9, 2019

Joel Ajayi

With barely two months to the commencement of the 19th National Sports Festival, tagged ‘Edo 2020’ slated to hold in the ancient city of Benin, Team Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are jittery over the delay by the Muhammad Musa Bello-led administration to release funds for their participation at the biannual championship.

Team FCT is yet to commence any preparatory exercise as the authorities are adamant about the plight of the team in spite of the athletes’ threat to dump FCT and compete for other states during the biannual national championship.

Stakeholders had decried the unpleasant experiences Team FCT was subjected in past festivals including the last edition held in Abuja as well as the just recently concluded National Youth Games in Ilorin and called on the FCTA authorities to commence preparations ahead of time so as to avoid a repeat of the ugly experience in Edo.

Danjuma Audu, Secretary, FCT Aquatic Association (AA) said early preparation remains one of the important tools to improve on the performance of the Team FCT at the forthcoming National Sports Festival in Edo.

“We do not want what happened in the 2018 festival to repeat in 2020 in Edo State. I, therefore, appeal to the FCTA, FCT Social Development, and FCT Sports Council to commence immediate preparation and release of funds for athletes to raise the name of FCT high in Edo come to 2020 NSF”.

“I am calling on FCTA to please release the fund for early and better preparation. We don’t want the experience of 2018 where athletes were left with no option than to protest before their allowances were paid to them”.

“In 2018, there were a lot of unpleasant stories regarding the welfare of Team FCT athletes as many resorted to carrying placards in protest of non-payment of camp allowances”.

“We do not want these experiences anymore. Sports should be given priority attention and necessary funds should be released on time for effective camping, preparations, and performance. FCT has all it takes to challenge Delta, Lagos, Rivers and other big states for a top position on the medal table,” he said.

Audu, who spoke to our correspondent on the sideline of the recently concluded Swim Nigeria Annual Swimming Championship, held in Abuja, blasted FCTA for not doing enough to support sports development. He said that Abuja as a federal capital city lacked the necessary facilities to support sports development and called on corporate organizations and well-to-do individuals to support sports development, saying that the government cannot do it alone.

The National Sports Festival was evolved to foster unity and help unearth new talents in the country. Described as Nigeria’s Olympics, it has produced prominent athletes for the country who had won the continental and global medals for the country.

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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.

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