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Minister Wades Into NYCN Crisis

Published

7 years ago

September 6, 2019

…sets up resolution committee

The Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has commenced a deliberate process that will culminate in the resolution of the leadership crisis in the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) in line with the promise made by the Minister, Mr. Sunday Dare, upon his assumption of duty.

Mr. Dare, who had promised to convene a meeting of critical stakeholders in youth development when he resumed as the Minister of Youth and Sports Development also made a commitment to hold “crucial and confrontational deliberations” that will lead to the resolution of the NYCN crisis.

Following several hours of the stakeholders’ meeting on Friday, the Minister set up a committee to consider options presented for the resolution of the crisis with the panel having two weeks to come up with an amicable solution.

He said “The Ministry (of Youth and Sports Development) will not be part of the committee. I expect the committee to be neutral, thorough and objective”.
“We need to chart a new critical path forward. The Ministry will go and look at its internal processes again. The ministry will play its role and that role is a neutral one,” he promised.

The Committee’s term of reference is for it to arrive at a preferable option out of the three thrown up at the meeting. The first option is for stakeholders to explore legal provisions for the resolution of the crisis.

A second option is for NYCN to hold a fresh convention that will effectively sweep away the four persons laying claims to the leadership of the Council. The option is for the Ministry to abandon the NYCN and create a new platform for reaching out to the youth.

Stakeholders in the course of deliberations had commended the neutral approach adopted by the minister in the efforts to resolve the leadership tussle that has grounded the NYCN for over eight years as they expressed confidence that a solution is within sight.

The meeting was attended by the contending leaders of the NYCN, past four presidents of the council and Chairman Board of Trustee, Mr. Dickson Akoh.

The Ministry had in the past issued press statements to the media on the lingering leadership crisis, complemented with public notices in major daily newspapers with a directive to the youth council members to desist from parading themselves as president of the NYCN.
The Committee has two weeks to conclude its work.

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Featured

Alake Inaugurates Nigeria-US Solid Minerals Committee, Dismisses $700bn Claim, Says No Assets Sold

Published

4 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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