Featured

Health Care: Kogi Emerges Best Performing State In World Bank’s ANRiN Project

Published

4 years ago

December 14, 2022

From Our Correspondent

Again, Kogi has emerged the Best Performing State in the World Bank-supported Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria, ANRiN, project, outshining 10 other states assessed for the project’s Community-Based Nutrition Service Delivery.

The state government received the Certificate of Achievement as Best Performing State: Community-Based Nutrition Service Delivery (NSA Performance +DLI) at the sixth ANRIN Implementation Support event, held in Abuja.

ANRiN project, supported by the World Bank, is a priority health-care project, aimed at increasing the utilisation of quality, cost-effective nutrition services for pregnant and lactating women, adolescent girls and children to reduce illnesses and enhance their overall wellbeing.

11 states, Kogi, Abia, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Oyo, Plateau, and Katsina, were assessed.

Drivers of the project, who are non-state actors recruited through the World Bank’s procurement processes, noted that participating states, through the provision of basic health needs, including deworming for children (12-59 months), IFA supplementation for pregnant women, malaria care for pregnant women, among others, would be able to reduce infant and maternal mortality drastically.

Kogi State Commissioner for Health, Dr Zakari Usman, who spoke to the media on this feat in the health sector, said owing to the high performance in giving basic nutrition services to women and children, the nutrition indices of Kogi State women and children are expected to increase greatly while illnesses would reduce drastically.

According to him, Kogi State’s Gross Domestic Product will rise with increase in functional population and reduction of maternal and infant mortality, among others.

Usman explained that the project had been actively carried out in Kogi State for five years, adding that it was able to achieve the first position because of the commitment of Governor Yahaya Bello to the project and to the revitalisation of the health sector in general.

“Governor Yahaya Bello paid the commitment fund, every year, up till date. There was effective sensitisation of beneficiaries, diligent supervision and monitoring by the PIU, community ownership of the project by Kogites and excellent managerial ability by the commissioner of health.

“The implication of this feat on the health sector of Kogi State is that the nutrition indices will increase greatly; illnesses will be reduced and it will also cause increased GDP and functional population. There will also be reduced maternal and infant mortality among other positive results,” he said.

Share on Facebook

Featured

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.

Share on Facebook