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Gusau Hails Rivers United, Encourages Eagles B, Bayelsa Queens To Learn From Defeats
Joel Ajayi
President of Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau has reacted to a number of matches by Nigeria’s representative teams across the world on Wednesday, praising Rivers United FC for standing strong to emerge as the only Nigeria team left in continental club competitions after a midweek of action across Africa.
The Pride of Rivers dug their feet into the turf of the Benina Martys Stadium in Benghazi, Libya to earn a 1-1 draw with Al Naser FC, and qualified for the CAF Confederation Cup group stage on 6-1 aggregate. Their feat came hours after fellow Nigeria flagbearers Plateau United imploded in a rather poor final four minutes to lose 0-3 to Al Akhdar FC on the same turf, wiping out their three-goal advantage from the first leg.
“On behalf of the NFF Board and the generality of Nigeria Football stakeholders, I congratulate Rivers United on their credible outing and I wish them success in the group stage. They did well to sustain the Nigeria flag in the competition.
“On their part, Bayelsa Queens also gave their best in the semi finals of the CAF Women Champions League in Morocco against home team, ASFAR FC. I was hoping they would reach the Final so that we would go and support them but they were not disgraced all the same. They should take the lessons from the defeat to do better next time. They should also fight hard for the bronze medals in order not to come back home empty-handed.”
The Queens lost by the odd goal to ASFAR and will now play Simba Queens of Tanzania for the third place, while ASFAR battle Cup holders Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa in the final.
“As I have reiterated several times, the new NFF Board will provide tremendous encouragement for Nigeria women football to return strongly to its rightful place on the African continent and at global level,” Gusau added.
Reacting to the Super Eagles’ 2-0 defeat against World Cup-bound Costa Rica in San Jose in the early hours of Wednesday, Gusau challenged the coaching crew and the players to take hard lessons from the loss and commit to returning to winning ways henceforth.
“Costa Rica are heading to the World Cup and were highly spurred on by their fans, but then we are Nigeria and we should always have it in mind that our people want us to win all the time. I am not saying they did not give a good performance; they should know that winning matters.
“The new NFF Board will be concerned with players that dorn our green-and-white going out for wins, whether they play in competitive and friendly matches. It is not enough to try or to make an effort; winning mentality is key. They tried their best in the game but they should learn from this and know that next time, they have to go all out to win or avoid defeat.”
Oscar Duarte opened the scoring for Los Ticos seven minutes into the game when he sliced past goalkeeper Kayode Bankole off a free-kick from the left by Joel Campbell.
Attack –minded defender Dominion Ohaka danced his way into the Los Ticos’ eighteen-yard box in the 18th minute but his shot flew over the bar.
Bankole made a number of good saves, but the Eagles’ forwards could not mine fortune from the few opportunities that came their way, and in the 73rd minute, Kendall Waston headed over the Nigeria goalkeeper and a defender into the net, off a pull-out from the left by Campbell.
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Alake Inaugurates Nigeria-US Solid Minerals Committee, Dismisses $700bn Claim, Says No Assets Sold
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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