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Maiden FCT FA Area Council Female Football League Kicks Off In Abuja.
The much anticipated maiden edition of the FCT FA Area Council Female Football League kicked off in Abuja on Friday with football queens in the six area councils of the FCT showcasing their talent.
The weeklong event which is targeted at promoting the development of female football in the FCT is taking place at the Area 3 Play Ground, Garki, Abuja.
Speaking in an interview during the opening ceremony of the event, Chairman of Kuje Area Council Football Association who doubles as the Chairman of Local Organizing Committee, Alhaji Ibrahim Koko Kuje expressed optimism that the current board of the FCT Football Association, under the leadership of Alhaji Adam Muktar, will do all in its power to develop female football in the FCT.
According to the LOC Chairman, the FCT FA board promised during the last FA election that both male and female football in the FCT will be given adequate attention and they are set to redeem their pledge.
“I want to tell you that what you are seeing here today is one of the campaign promises of the FCT FA Boss that he is now unveiling.
“Alhaji Adam is gender sensitive, after the conclusion of the male event, it is the turn of the female league which has already kicked off and I believe that the objectives will be achieved as new talents will be discovered.
“Despite the global challenges, the coronavirus pandemic, he has taken it upon himself to take football development to the grassroot.
Meanwhile, in the result of the matches played yesterday, Bwari Queens Football Club lost 1-0 to Kuje Queens Football Club in the opening match, courtesy of the solitary strike from Norris Yusuf.
AMAC Queens FC punished Kwali Queens FC 3 Nil in the second match of the day. Goals from Marcus Happiness, Elizabeth Wari and Oluwabunmi Elisha were enough to give the AMAC Queens a comfortable victory.
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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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