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Orientation: NYSC Receives 72,000 RDT Test Kits From NACA

Published

5 years ago

August 31, 2021

Joel Ajayi
The National Youth Service Corps has commended the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) over the release of seventy-two thousand RDT test kits towards the success of the forthcoming 2021 Batch ‘B’ Stream Two Orientation Course.

NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim gave this commendation when he paid a courtesy call on the Director-General, National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Dr Gambo Gumel Aliyu in his office in Abuja.

He said the NYSC is the only agency where all Prospective Corps Members and other Camp participants are tested for COVID-19 before entering the camps.

Ibrahim added that only those that test negative are allowed into the camps, while those that test positive are taken away by the NCDC and State Health Officials for treatment.
“This has availed the NCDC and the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 the opportunity to have the data analysis of COVID-19 in the country.

We also extend our appreciation to General TY Danjuma Foundation for donating sixty-thousand test kits to NYSC”, General Ibrahim added.

He promised a stronger synergy with NACA while he commended the Corps Members in NACA CDS Group for sensitising Nigerians on the scourge and dangers of HIV/AIDS.

He assured the Corps Members of enhanced welfare package, admonishing them to contribute their quota to national development as they serve as good ambassadors of the NYSC.

The Director-General, National Agency for the Control of AIDS, Dr Gambo Gumel Aliyu said NACA and NYSC are critical stakeholders in effective healthcare delivery to all Nigerians.
He said the transmission of HIV/AIDS is active among youths between age 22 and 25.

He added that there should be a stronger synergy between the two agencies to stem the tide of the deadly virus with more sensitisation using Corps Members.

“We have been working with the NYSC for quite sometime and this is the time when we need to have a renewed vigour in our efforts to work jointly to control the spread of HIV in Nigeria”, he said.

The NACA Director of Administration, Dr Emmanuel Chenge said between 2013 till date, the agency had received 928 Corps Members.
He said at present, the agency is having twenty-four Corps Members who are being properly engaged with good welfare package.

He stated that the Corps Members are engaged in soft skills, mentored by a staff in NACA and they are also engaged in online courses.

Corps Member Tolulope Abiola FC/20B/1830 and Daniel Osakhare FC/20B/1206, both serving at NACA expressed satisfaction at the level of mentorship being experienced in the agency.

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

Published

23 hours 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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