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FG Determined To Empower Nigerians Youth-Dare

Published

7 years ago

September 19, 2019

The Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development Mr. Sunday Akin Dare has revealed that the present government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari will do everything within his power to all Nigerian youth are engage.

To this end he said building a youthful population that is empowered and successful is one of the cardinal objective of this administration as he said is not limited to Youth and Sport Development but also in Education, Health, Science and Technology, Politics and Leadership.

Minister assured that Youth Development will take the lead with Sports also getting equal attention.

The Minister stated this when members of the United Northern Youth Students paid him a courtesy visit, in Abuja.

According to him, about 67 million of Nigerian population are Youth and their problems are varied.

“We have seen what their counterpart are doing across the world because of what their country is investing in them, Federal Government through the Ministry intends to put together lots of programmes for the Youth such as self-empowerment and also introducing them to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in order to enable them to be more competitive and be gainfully employed.’’

Mr. Sunday Dare explained that the Ministry has waded into the crisis over leadership tussle in the National Youth Council of Nigeria {NYCN}, adding that a seven man committee has been set up to resolve all factions and their Presidents, promising that whatever report generated from that will be subjected to another process of a higher level before reaching a final decision.

‘’Youths in this country are hurting themselves because they do not have a single united front fighting for them, it is illegal to have four people parading themselves as the President of the National Youth Council of Nigeria.”

In a fresh start, the Minister said it is important for the NYCN to bury whatever interest they have had and that its constitution would be looked into holistically. This will give room and equal leveling field to conduct a fresh and transparent convention to elect an authentic leader that the United Nations and the World Health Organisation will embrace.

He draws the attention of the delegation to the National Youth Policy, which states out clearly what Government should do to empower the Youth and prepare them for Leadership in the society.

Speaking earlier the President of the United Northern Youth Students, Jubir Aminu Meturare, thanked the Honourable Minister for receiving the delegation at a short notice, assuring the Minister that they will work with the Ministry.

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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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