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Integrate Corps Members Into Your Communities, NYSC Acting Dg Urges

Published

4 years ago

December 20, 2022

Joel Ajayi

Stakeholders across the country have been advised to accept Corps Members into their host communities and also provide them with conducive environments that would enhance their statutory performances during the service year.

The Acting Director General of National Youth Service Corps, Mrs Christy Uba stated this on Tuesday in his address to Corps Members and Camp Officials during the closing ceremony of the 2022 Batch ‘C’ Stream Two Orientation Course held at NYSC Akwa-Ibom State Orientation Camp at Nsit Atai.

She said Corps Members are on national assignment in different locations across the country, and should therefore be provided with adequate welfare, security and other logistics.

Mrs Uba also warned the Corps Members that the Scheme would not shield anyone of them that violates the law from the consequences of wrong doings.

She enjoined them to be law-abiding as they serve as role models in their places of Primary Assignment for the younger ones.

“Remember that your membership of the service corps does not confer on you immunity from the legal consequences of any wrong doing.

At all times, you should be good ambassadors of the NYSC as well as your families and institutions of graduation.

Therefore, you must be wary of acts that can portray the Scheme in bad light, especially drug abuse and trafficking, cybercrime, advanced-free-fraud and spreading of fake news among others”, she added.

Mrs Uba also urged the Corps Members to be security conscious at all times as they proceed to their places of Primary Assignment, adding that, “you should avoid acts that can endanger your lives such as staying out late, attending night parties, visitation to dangerous places and acceptance of car rides and gifts from strangers”.

She stated that Management remains committed to making adequate provisions for their welfare and security through constant liaison with security agencies and other critical stakeholders towards having a fulfilling service year.

Uba, who expressed satisfaction about the conduct of the Corps Members during the Orientation period also urged them to be disciplined in their respective places of primary assignment and also be ready to face the challenges of the service year.

She advised the Corps Members to accept their postings in good faith and be guided by the provisions of the NYSC Act and Bye-laws as well as workplace rules and regulations.

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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.

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