News
FG, US hold talks on funding mining projects in Nigeria
Joel Ajayi
On the sidelines of the Mines & Money conference held in London, Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Oladele Alake and United States Assistant Secretary for Energy and Natural Resources Geoffrey Pratt agreed to set up a team of officials of both countries to explore financing for credit to mining firms and infrastructures.
Pratt said his visit to Alake followed an earlier meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who sought the support of the US for the country’s economic revival.
He said the US would like to be Nigeria’s partner of choice in developing the solid minerals sector and was interested in the reforms announced by the Minister in his address at the plenary of the conference.
Noting that the United States has various institutions and laws which encourage direct foreign investment, Pratt said he would notify the agencies to collaborate with their Nigerian counterparts to work out the framework.
Responding, Dr. Alake said the gesture was music to his ears as the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development has launched a seven point agenda as its roadmap to reposition the sector.
He highlighted the establishment of the new Solid Minerals Development Company, a new security architecture to ensure safety of mine operations and data generation on a massive scale to derisk the sector.
He said the credit facility and foreign direct investment promised by the United States would be in the mutual interest of both countries because energy minerals such as lithium are critical to the global crusade for clean energy and necessary for the manufacture of electric cars.
Also speaking at the meeting, the executive secretary of the Nigerian Solid Minerals Fund, Hajiya Fatima Shinkafi commended the US for investment in mining infrastructures in the central Africa urging a similar partnership with the Fund.
News
Musawa Seeks Broader Significance for June 12
Joel Ajayi
The Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, Esq., says June 12 must be remembered as a sacrifice that gave Nigerians democracy, beyond its status as a public holiday.
In a statement signed on Saturday by the Senior Assistant Media & Publicity to the Honourable Minister,Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy Dr Nneka Ikem Anibeze Ph.D in Abuja.
Musawa stated this at the national premiere of “MKO”, a film on Chief Moshood Abiola, held at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts, Lagos, to mark Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary.
She said 33 years after June 12, 1993, many young Nigerians know it only as a holiday, but the film turns it back into memory.
“For too many young Nigerians, June 12 is simply a public holiday. This film tells them that our democracy did not arrive by chance. It was fought for. It was defended. It was paid for. This documentary is in honour of the heroes of June 12, the men and women who gave their lives for the mandate of June 12, 1993 and for the democracy Nigeria enjoys today,” the Minister said.
Musawa hailed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Chief Host, for his participation in the June 12 struggle and paying the price in exile, adding that Nigeria’s creative industry will keep telling the story of its democracy with courage.
“Through film and the creative economy, Nigeria will preserve its history. A nation that forgets its past loses its way to the future. Nigeria has a story and our story deserves to be told,” she said.
Earlier, the director of the investigative documentary, Ose Oyamendan, said the film was in honour and memory of heroes who fought for Nigeria’s democracy.
“There was Hope ’93 and now there is Renewed Hope. There was a man who sacrificed his life so we may have democracy and there is a man who almost lost his life fighting for democracy who is now helping build a lasting democracy.
“There was a great man called Bashorun MKO Abiola and there is now another great man called Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Democrats. Nationalists. Nation builders. Leaders of men and women. We must never forget our story. We must always honour and remember our heroes,” Oyamendan said.
Top government officials including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the wife of the President Senator Oluremi Tinubu; Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Chief of Staff to the President Rt. Femi Gbajabiamila, state Governors, members of the National Assembly, Ministers and other distinguished dignitaries attended the premiere.
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