Connect with us

Featured

NANS Urge President Buhari to end 7-month ASUU Strike

Published

on


… May Embark on operation back to class protest
By Joel Ajayi
The newly elected president of National Association of Nigerian Student NANS Usman Umar Barambu has called on President Muhammadu Buhari as matter of urgency to find a lasting solution to the lingering ASUU Strike that have crippled the education sector in the country.


To this end, NANS has revealed that, the student Association is ready to start massive protest tagged “operation back to class”.


Nigeria Student Union made this appeal at maiden world press conference by the newly elected  on Monday in Abuja where he promise to engage government that will pave way for immediate resumption after 7months of ASUU Strike in the country.


According to him, after exhaustive deliberations and depositions on the state of the Nation, State of Campuses and the lingering dispute between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government of Nigeria about seven (7) months which have hitherto affected the academic calendar of all our Public owned universities and equally  affecting the future of Nigerian Student, as a Program of 4years is now 6years and vice versa.


“The NANS call on President Muhammad Buhari GCFR to as a matter of urgency to use his fatherly intervention to resolve the lingering ASUU Strike by personally brokering a meeting with ASUU.


“NANS also call on President Muhammad Buhari GCFR to immediately sack the present non performing Service chiefs with a view towards overhauling and rejigging the entire security formation of the country by bringing on board capable and digital hand with experience and capacity to stem the tide of insecurity that is rearing ugly head in order to ensure the permanent debasement of insurgency so as to combat banditry and kidnapping in the Country. 


“The Federal Government should also proffer a workable and solution to address incessant clashes between farmers and herders across the country.”


Also, NANS commended President Muhammad Buhari GCFR and the National Assembly on theiroverwhelming support to educational sector in the country. 


NANS also plead with Hon. Minister of Education to double his effort towards ensuring that education is given priority attention in terms of budgetary allocation and in order to meet the UNESCO standard and recommendation of setting aside 26% annual budget to education by developing Countries.


“We called on lecturers involved in the business of Sex for Marks to desist from their nefarious activities and repent without further delay as Nigerian Student would not hesitate to expose them and make them face the full wrath of the law.
The Congress applaud the large turn-out of Student who registered across the country during the just concluded voters registration exercise by INEC. The congress call on all Students who registered to ensure they collect their Permanent Voter’s Card, as and when due. 


“The Congress further admonished all registered Students to ensure they participate in the 2023 general election process and elects credible candidates during the elections at all levels in other to bring about good leaders that will provide dividends of democracy  to the Nigerians.” 

Continue Reading

Featured

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

Published

on

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.

Continue Reading

Trending

error

Enjoy this blog? Please spread the word :)