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Support campaign for violence-free elections, patriotism, Akobundu urges Media, others
Princess Gloria Akobundu fsi, National Coordinator/Chief Executive Officer, African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa’s Development/ African Peer Review Mechanism (AUDA-NEPAD/APRM)Nigeria urges the media to support the Agency on its campaign for Violence-free election and high level of patriotism of citizens before during and after elections.
Akobundu said on Friday at the end of the year media parley organised by the Agency at its headquarters, Abuja.
According to AUDA-NEPAD Boss, media and other other stakeholders should give adequate support to the Agency’s campaign for Violence-free elections and other flagship programmes of the Agency.
“The constitution is clear on what qualifies a citizen to contest for any political post and the electoral act has been further strengthened to make the process more credible, so it behoves on other stakeholders to maintain peace before, during and after elections.
“Among the mandates of this AUDA-NEPAD is to deepen democracy and promote good development in thee country.
“We have been doing this by sensitizing and will continue to sensitize the electorate as well as relevant stakeholders on the need to ensure that peace reigns in every activity that leads to the completion of the 2023 general elections and future elections.
” Let me once again, call on the media to join us in our campaign for Violence-free elections in 2023 election and beyond,” she said.
Akobundu commended the media for the good coverage of the Agency’s activities from the beginning of year 2022 till date.
She listed major achievements of the Agency during the year to include successful conduct of the Second Peer Review of the Country, implementation of various programmes towards food security in the country, organised high-level side event on the Margin of the 77th UN General Assembly,among others.
“AUDA-NEPAD’s Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) is the African Union’s strategic plan to address food security and malnutrition in the continent.
“Since the successful launching of AUDA-NEPAD Initiative to Strengthen Smallholder Farmers Capabilities towards Productive Land Restoration amid COVID-19 pandemic, strategic partners have been synergizing with the Agency to ensure its success.
These partners include international State and non-State actors with capacity to complement the nation’s resources for nourishable food security.
“Those are the tools for the actualisation of African Union Agenda 2063 ‘Africa We Want’ as well as United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030′ which President Muhammadu’s government is highly committed to achieve,” she said.
Above all, Akobundu called on all Nigerians, irrespective of their ethnic, religious, political or ideological leanings, to be more patriotic so that the nation can be a better place for all to live in.
In appreciation of their supports to the Agency, the CEO gave awards to notable media organisations for their exceptional commitments to duty.
They include TVC, NTA, Punch Newspaper and FRCN.
Akobundu, was supported by the Management and staff of the Agency to host the Media as she wished them a merry Christmas and prosperous New Year 2023 celebrations.
It will be recalled that Akobundu led a team of multi-billion dollars foreign investors on courtesy call to state Governors across the country ahead of the commencement of the AUDA-NEPAD Smallholder Farmers Programme.
Signed:
Abolade Ogundimu
Media Assistant to NC/CEO,
AUDA-NEPAD/APRM Nigeria
23rd December,2022
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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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