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FAME Foundation, AFD, Sensitise Girls on Rights to Education and Equality

Published

4 years ago

September 16, 2022

A non-governmental organization in Abuja, FAME Foundation in collaboration with the Agence Française de Development (AFD) is sensitising girls on their rights to education and equality through the Play it Dream it Initiative, a project using sports for development in Nigeria.

Ms Aderonke Ogunleye- Bello, Executive Director, FAME Foundation, said this at a workshop in Abuja on Thursday.

Bello said the campaign would educate girls across schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), to emphasise on their rights.

She called on the government to review the Child Rights Act to accommodate more points that would help the girl child become more appreciated.

”This is an initiative of FAME Foundation called, ‘play it dream it’. We want to teach girls the importance of education and also combat girl child marriage, domestic violence amongst others.

”It is also for them to know how to set the right goals for themselves.

”I hope that the government can update and review the child rights act of 2003 and make it to accommodate more points that will help the girl child,” Bello said.

Ms Elise Blaizot, the Project Officer, AFD Nigeria, in her speech said that the two organisations had been discussing the possibilities of the project and crucial actions to reach other regions.

Blaizot said that the essence of the discussion was to achieve the objective of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by making education a fundamental right for everyone.

”Together, we do believe that education is indispensable for the exercise of other human rights.

”We do believe that the gender gap will not be narrowed in the world if the challenges around girls’ education do not find any answer.

”Together, we do believe that all forces should be joined if we want to find solutions,” she said.

Also, Camille Oren, Project Officer, French Embassy in Nigeria, said that gender stereotype was a wrong idea about men and women.

According to Oren, girls are always told to be nice, look good and play safe, instead of building cars, engaging in politics and being CEOs .

“As girls, we should do whatever we want to do and be confident about who we are and what we are doing, ” Oren said.

In the same vein, Tonto Dikeh, a politician, humanitarian and mentor advised the children to plan their lives for success in life.

”I urge you kids not to take what you have learnt here lightly because it will build you to the woman you will become in future.

“There is no dream and no goal that is too small, dream big and you will achieve great things,” she said.

Dikeh also urged the people to desist from the opinion that government’s insensitivity and poverty lead to lack of education.

Dr Sarah Hilyer, founder of Center for Sports, Peace and Society at the University of Tennessee urged the girls to get involved in sports and take their education seriously.

“The combination of sports and education will make Nigeria a better place and the world a better place.”

The 2 days workshop for girls on rights to education and equality, organized by FAME Foundation, took place in Abuja on September 15th and 16th, 2022.

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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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