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NDLEA, PRIMORG Take Advocacy Against Drugs To FCT Public Schools.
National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, and the Progressive Impact Organisation for Community Development, PRIMORG, have warned youths, especially students, to ‘stay away’ from illicit drugs and psychotropic substances.
The warning is in continuation of PRIMORG’s recently flagged off Drug Demand Reduction campaign tagged “Safe Without Drugs (SWiD) Initiative” at Government Secondary School, Apo, FCT – Abuja, on Friday, 23 February 2024.
In his remark, the NDLEA Chairman, Brig Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), lamented the devastating consequences of early drug abuse, which includes mental illness, academic failure and societal disorder, while commending PRIMORG for the initiative.
He noted that the sensitization against drug abuse in schools cannot be over-emphasized, given the magnitude of the drug problem in the country. One of the significant difficulties Nigerians who abuse drugs are facing is that treatment for substance use disorder is not readily available and is very expensive.
Staff Officer Sensitisation, Drug Demand and Reduction Directorate NHQs Abuja Superintendent of Narcotics Owonubi Gbenga represented Marwa.
NDLEA, however, sensitized the senior secondary students on “understanding the concept of drug abuse or drug misuse; the magnitude of the drug problem in our society; and the signs, symptoms of drug effects and coping skills.
Owonubi also introduced the Safe Without Drugs Initiative/ War Against Drug Abuse (SWiD/WADA) club to the students and management of the school as an avenue to continue the advocacy against drug abuse among students.
Representative of FCT Secondary School Board, Haj. Hadiza Mohammed commended PRIMORG for the SWiD Initiative while joining calls for students to shun drug abuse outrightly.
Mohammed assured that the campaign against drug abuse is something the government will not stop and is serious about advocating against drug use and enlightening the students about it.
Warning the students against abusing drugs, Mohammed said, “Drug abuse starts with an addiction, and addiction is a monster. It will destroy you, tear you apart and later laugh at you, making you useless to society. It will put your psychological being at stake and endanger your parents in terms of rehabilitating you as a drug abuse victim”.
She encouraged the students not to keep quiet but to speak up when they see drug abusers, stressing the need to spread the campaign against drug consumption to neighbourhoods, friends and even to parents and guardians.
Earlier, PRIMORG’s Programme Manager, Dr Adaobi Obiabunmuo, hailed the partnership between the NDLEA, FCT Secondary School Board and the management of Government Secondary School, Apo, FCT.
Obiabunmuo, while joining others to urge students to stay away from drug abuse completely. She disclosed that the SWiD Initiative targets students, primarily the senior secondary in a bid to teach them the negative impact of illicit use of drugs and better shape their future.
Other speakers during the programme warned the students against getting close to drugs as it will truncate their future ambitions and goals.
It will be recalled that PRIMORG launched the SWiD Initiative about a fortnight ago at Excellent Kiddies Academy, Bwari, Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The advocacy possesses a wide range of programmes and activities meant to address the multifaceted problems of drug abuse in Nigeria.
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Strategic Partnerships, Diaspora Investment and Improved Workforce Critical to Industrialization-DG RMRDC
By: Stella Azi and Adaora Adibe
The Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, has called for a strategic shift from the exportation of raw commodities to domestic processing, manufacturing and value addition, declaring that Nigeria possesses enormous untapped raw material resources capable of driving industrialisation, creating jobs and strengthening the country’s economic competitiveness.
Prof. Ike-Muonso made this submission in a lecture titled Unlocking Nigeria’s Raw Material Value Chain for Industrialization, Manufacturing and Competitiveness, where he presented an extensive assessment of Nigeria’s resource endowments, industrial challenges and emerging investment opportunities across agricultural commodities, solid minerals and waste-based raw materials.
The lecture highlighted a combined US$2.65 trillion global market opportunity across 30 major raw material value chains, comprising 12 agricultural value chains valued at US$932 billion, 11 mineral value chains worth US$1.352 trillion and seven circular-economy value chains estimated at US$366 billion.
According to the RMRDC Boss, Nigeria must move beyond the traditional approach of extracting and exporting raw materials to building competitive domestic industries that transform these resources into intermediate products, industrial inputs and finished goods for local consumption and international markets.
He observed that the country’s manufacturing sector has struggled to sustain its 2014 peak, with its contribution to real Gross Domestic Product declining from 9.64 per cent in 2014 to 8.05 per cent in 2025, representing a 16.5 per cent decline. He also drew attention to the increasing cost of raw material imports, which rose to US$20.5 billion in 2025, approximately six times the 2020 level.
He explained that the growing dependence on imported industrial inputs exposes Nigerian manufacturers to foreign exchange volatility, increases production costs and weakens the competitiveness of locally manufactured products.
Prof. ke-Muonso stressed that the solution lies in developing domestic raw material value chains through deliberate investment in processing facilities, research and development, technology, infrastructure and stronger linkages between producers, processors and manufacturers.
He identified agriculture, solid minerals and industrial waste as three major resource platforms for Nigeria’s industrial transformation, stating the country’s significant production capacity and the enormous opportunities available for downstream processing.
Ike-Muonso noted that Nigeria produces over 63 million metric tonnes of cassava annually, making it the world’s largest producer, while also maintaining strong positions in cocoa, cashew, sesame, palm oil and cotton. However, more than 80 per cent of agricultural output leaves farms without adequate processing, resulting in the loss of significant economic value and industrial opportunities.
In the solid minerals sector, he identified more than 44 commercially viable minerals across over 500 locations, including lithium, gold, barite, bitumen, iron ore and high-grade limestone, describing them as strategic resources capable of supporting steel production, energy storage, electrification and advanced manufacturing.
The DG further drew attention to Nigeria’s industrial and agro-waste resources, noting that the country generates over 32 million tonnes of solid waste annually. He explained that agricultural residues, cassava peels, scrap metals, plastics and electronic waste could serve as important feedstock for bio-fertilisers, industrial chemicals, recycled polymers, energy production and other manufacturing applications.
In the agricultural sector, the DG identified cassava and industrial starch, cotton and natural textiles, natural rubber and elastomers, oil palm and oleochemicals, maize derivatives and cocoa processing as priority areas requiring increased investment.
He explained that processing agricultural commodities into industrial starch, sweeteners, textiles, technical rubber, specialty fats and other intermediate products would enable Nigeria to capture more value from its agricultural resources while reducing dependence on imported industrial inputs.
For the minerals sector, he highlighted crude oil-to-olefins and petrochemicals, lithium and energy storage, iron ore and steel, rare earth elements, bauxite and aluminium, and copper and electrification as strategic investment opportunities.
He particularly emphasised the importance of moving beyond mineral extraction into beneficiation, refining, battery precursors, industrial chemicals, metal fabrication and advanced materials production.
On the circular economy, Prof. Ike-Muonso identified electronic waste recovery, scrap metal recycling, plastic waste processing, agro-waste valorisation and battery recycling as emerging industrial opportunities.
He explained that transforming waste into productive industrial feedstock would not only reduce environmental pollution but also create new manufacturing industries, generate employment and reduce the importation of valuable industrial materials.
He noted that to address the structural challenges confronting raw material-based industrialisation, the DG highlighted the strategic interventions of the RMRDC, particularly the proposed 30% Value Addition Bill and the Nigeria Integrated Information Statistical System for Raw Materials and Products (NISSRAMP).
He described the 30% Value Addition Bill as an important policy instrument designed to encourage domestic processing of raw materials before export, strengthen local manufacturing capacity and guarantee access to essential raw materials for Nigerian industries, and NISSRAMP as a critical data infrastructure that would improve access to verified information on the availability, location and quality of raw materials.
According to him, the combination of appropriate policy instruments and reliable resource data would help de-risk investments, improve transparency and strengthen confidence in Nigeria’s raw material sector.
He emphasised the importance of collaboration among government, academia and industry in developing bankable projects, sharing investment risks and accelerating the establishment of processing and manufacturing facilities.
Professor Ike-Muonso called on Nigerians in the diaspora and other local and international investors to take advantage of the opportunities available in Nigeria’s raw material sector.
He identified industrial processing parks, mineral beneficiation and refining, agro-industrial platforms, circular-material processing, industrial input manufacturing and enabling infrastructure as viable investment platforms.
He noted that diaspora investors could contribute beyond financial capital by bringing technology, international business networks, governance standards, technical expertise and access to global markets.
He maintained that Nigeria’s industrial transformation requires coordinated investment across the entire value chain, from raw material sourcing and aggregation to processing, manufacturing, certification and export development.
Professor Ike-Muonso stressed that the country’s industrial future would depend not merely on the volume of raw materials extracted but on the capacity to transform them into competitive products that meet domestic and international market requirements.
He maintained that developing local value chains would stimulate industrial growth, create employment opportunities, diversify exports, conserve foreign exchange and deepen Nigeria’s technological capabilities.
Through its strategic interventions, the RMRDC is positioning itself as a critical bridge between resource availability, investment opportunities and industrial competitiveness, with the ultimate objective of transforming Nigeria from a predominantly raw material exporting economy into a strong manufacturing and value-adding nation.
Ike-Muonso has demonstrated this since assumption of office as the Director General/ CEO RMRDC in the area of capacity building, improved working conditions, promotion of merit, and maintaining a conducive environment that rewards excellence, innovation and dedication. This is evident in his institution of RMRDC training school, reward for winners of the RMRDC innovation challenge among others.
His commitment has brought recognition both nationally and internationally: Al-Jazirah double honour awards as Public Servant /Government Agency of the year 2024-2025 and the recent election as the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Representative on the Board of the World Association of Industrial and Technological Research Organisations (WAITRO) is a attestation to his commitment.
Concluding the lecture, the DG charged staff, researchers, manufacturers and investors to see themselves as nation builders in the new era of raw materials-led industrialization.
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