Basketball

Mo Heat Basketball Tops Group A of Mark D Ball Championship

Published

3 years ago

February 12, 2022

Mo Heat Basketball of Abuja topped the final standings, with a perfect seven wins from seven Group A games, of the 2022 Mark D Ball Men’s Basketball championship,with first of Group A coming to an end on Saturday in Abuja.

Mo Heat, a new Franchise based in the nation’s capital, trounced Apa Flames of Benue 126-77, to further underline their credentials, as a team that should be playing in the Nigeria Premier Basketball League.

Prior to Saturday’s victory, Mo Heat had also won all of their previous six games in the tournament, and were the first team to tally 100 points, when blowing away Ahip Giants of Kano 104-60 on Thursday.

They finished on 14 points and a massive goals difference of +165, to place first ahead of the duo of Gombe Bulls and Hot Coal Ballers of Abuja, who both finished with 12 points, having lost a game each.

The Bulls with a slightly better goals difference of +66 placed 2nd, while Hot Coal Ballers with an inferior goals difference of +61 was 3rd.

Nile University of Abuja, Apa Flames of Benue, and Police Baton of Lagos all ended up with 10 points each, but placed 4th, 5th, and 6th in that order, on superior goals difference.

In 7th with 9 points was FRSC Safety Knights of Abuja; while AHIP Giants of Kano brought up the rare in 8th position, with 7 points, but was the only side to have lost all their seven games.

Saturday’s other games decided, saw Gombe Bulls pip Nile University of Abuja 74-69; Police Baton of Lagos earned a battling 57-55 win over FRSC Safety Knights; while AHIP Giants of Kano lost their 7th match at a bounce, when losing 55-68 to Hot Coal Ballers of Abuja.

The Championships continue next Saturday with the eight teams populating Group C, taking to Court of the Indoor Sports Hall, in Package B of the MKO Abiola National Stadium.

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Basketball

Senate Set to Endorse 30% Value Addition Requirement for Raw Materials

Published

2 weeks ago

May 20, 2025

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The Nigerian Senate has assured Nigerians and Africans that the 30% raw materials bill would be passed this week and transmitted to the House of Representatives for concurrence.
Senate President, Sen. Godswill Akpabio gave the assurance on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the inaugural Africa Raw Materials Summit 2025, held on Tuesday in Abuja, with the theme, “Shaping the Future of Africa’s Resource Landscape.”

Speaking through the Chairman, Senate Committee on Science and Technology, Sen. Aminu Abbas, Akpabio said, “I can assure you that the 30% value addition bill before the Senate will be passed this week and transmitted to the House Representatives for concurrence.”

Earlier in his speech, he said, “In the Nigerian Senate, we have resolved to be proactive in addressing this structural imbalance. It is in this spirit that I reaffirm our full legislative backing for the 30% Minimum Value-Addition Bill, currently under consideration. This groundbreaking bill mandates that no raw material of Nigerian origin shall be exported without undergoing a minimum of 30% local value addition—whether through processing, refining, packaging, or industrial transformation.

“This legislation is not intended to stifle trade; rather, it is designed to ignite domestic enterprise, create jobs, attract capital, and build resilient value chains that benefit our people.”

“We must reject the historic pattern in which Africa merely supplies inputs while others reap the benefits of innovation, branding, and global market control.” he added.

“It is my hope that this model will be replicated across African nations, with regional centres of excellence established to share data, technologies, and best practices in raw material development.”

He used the opportunity to call on African countries to replicate the legislation in their countries to boost their economies.

“Permit me, therefore, to echo the call for the adoption of an Abuja Declaration on Raw Materials and Industrial Transformation in Africa. Let this declaration not merely reside in summit communiqués but become a living charter—a reference for executive action, legislative alignment, and investment mobilisation.

“Let it guide our representations at the African Union, the G20, and global trade forums where Africa’s voice must no longer be that of a supplier, but that of a producer,” he said.

The Minister of Science Innovation and Technology, Chief Geoffrey Innaji, speaking through the Minister of Transport, said “We are deploying digital tools, traceability infrastructure, and research-to-industry pathways to strengthen intra-African trade under AfCFTA. This is how Africa moves from extraction to transformation—from potential to prosperity.

“Let this summit send a clear message: Africa will no longer export its future in raw form. Our minerals will power industries, our crops will feed global markets, and our youth will drive innovation,” he said.

On his part, the Minister of State for Industry, John Owen, in his speech noted that, “with African continental free trade area, I believe that a lot of opportunities are already being opened to see how we can do much more than we are currently doing, and the statistics in terms of export trade should be less in terms of exporting raw materials and more in terms of exporting finished goods.”

Commenting on the Summit, the Director General Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike-Mounso, in his speech said, “Today, in the heart of Africa, we gather not merely for a summit, but for a solemn declaration: Africa shall no longer be the warehouse of raw potential, but the workshop of refined prosperity.”

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