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President of Nigeria Statistical Association Calls On Sectors To Emulate EFCC Partnership
By David Christopher, Lafia
The National President of Nigeria Statistical Association Dr. Goddy Ebuh has called on all relevant sectors in the country to embrace and identify with the association, owing to their advocacy status which is geared towards developing the nation in all ramifications.
The president who made the assertion in a press conference to mark the opening ceremony of the association’s annual conference tagged”Security Challenges and Its Associated Consequences” held in Keffi Hotel, Nasarawa State on Wednesday, also said The Economy and Financial Crime Commission EFCC amongst other agencies are collaborating with them meaningfully.
” I want to use this opportunity and call on all sectors in the country to embrace and identify with us because statistics is all about facts and figures. We want to look at the dynamism about security challenges and it’s associated consequences cut across all sectors including economy, health, education and financial sectors.
“Our role in the fight against corruption is not to expose offenders, if you go to such places like EFCC we have research and planning department. In most of our conferences their staff participate and after receiving training from us they go back to their respective agencies and make use of it.
“I hope you are aware of what the current EFCC chairman is doing as regard leveraging on statistics to succeed.So if the said chairman is leveraging on statistics to implement his programmes and drive the idea of eradicating corruption then I urge other agencies to follow suite”Dr. Ebuh stated.
According to him, the national chairman of National Population Commission (NPC) and The Chief Executive Officer of National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) would present Papers during the conference while the Minister of Budget and National Planning,The Statistical General of the Federation and The Managing Director of National Ports Authority will be embedded with investitures by the Association for excelling in their choosing careers.
He said at the end of the conference a communique will be produced which will be forwarded to government proffering solutions needed to tackle some problems going on in the country.
On his part, Chief Dr. Boniface Amobi former Director of Statistics in NBS and former president of the Association urged participants to organize themselves in order to benefit fully from the ongoing annual conference which he described as very crucial and apt
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Alake Inaugurates Nigeria-US Solid Minerals Committee, Dismisses $700bn Claim, Says No Assets Sold
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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