Basketball

NBBF Welcomes Minister of Sports To Office With Afrobasket Trophy

Published

6 years ago

August 24, 2019

NBBF Welcomes Minister of Sports To Office With Afrobasket Trophy

The newly appointed Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Sunday Dare was on Friday was welcomed to the office with 2019 Afrobasket trophy courtesy of Nigeria’s D’Tigress of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF.

Just last week the D’Tigress break barriers and set new records in Basketball by winning FIBA Afrobasket trophy back to back after a fierce battle with the host nation even in the presence of over 20,000 home crowd in faraway Senegal.

While receiving the giant trophy, Minister of youth and sports Mr. Dare applauds the team for the deserve victory saying they indeed exhibit the character of the tiger by defeating the host nation.

According to him, the government of President Muhammadu Buhari will continue to give the D’Tigress the support it needs both financially and otherwise.

“President followed the games and very soon, once we have a confirmed date, D’Tigress will be in Abuja and I will lead them to present the cup to President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Basketball has come to stay in this country. You serve as an ambassador for other girls and for the youth that we want to develop. I want to thank you for this victory. Nigerians want to thank you for this victory.”

He, however, challenged the NBBF board and the D’Tigress to increase their hard work adding that the result of hard work is more hard work.

Speaking earlier, the elated NBBF President, Engr Musa Kida described the occasion as a significant one which marks the beginning of many things to come for the new minister while in office.

“We are glad as a federation that we are the first to welcome the new minister to the office with a trophy which we won in Senegal. This is not just another event for us as NBBF; it is a landmark achievement as we have been presented with such a golden opportunity to interface personally with the Minister.”

Kida said at a crucial time like this with many international events to prosecute, it was imperative for the NBBF board to visit the minister and have firsthand information about what is happening within the federation.

“Our male team is in China and we all know how they got there. The women are the current African Champions. So, we needed to see the Minister and tell him about our plight. We are quite hopeful about the meeting we had with the Minister that things can only get better.”

Meanwhile, the duo of D’Tigress players, Sarah Imovbioh and Kunaiyi Pallas Akpannah who represented the team were present.

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Basketball

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

Published

3 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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