Featured

SWAN National Elections: State Chairmen Set Up New Electoral Committee

Published

7 years ago

September 18, 2019

Chairmen of state chapters of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) have made a bold move to save the Association from the brink of collapse it has drifted into.

The Chairmen, as well as representatives of other chairmen not unavailable, have set up an Electoral Committee to organize elections into the Association’s National Executive Committee (NEC).

According to the chairmen, who have gone on to inform the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) of this development, the new electoral body is to swing into action immediately.

The chairmen gave the new body, tagged “SWAN Credentials Committee (SWANCredCom)’’, six weeks to organise free and fair elections in Abuja.

The body, which is headed by Idris Abdulrahman, a former Chairman of Kano SWAN, has seven members who are all drawn from the country’s six geo-political zones.

The chairmen, in a letter to the NUJ President, Chris Isiguzo, recalled that the issue of SWAN National Elections had generated some controversy in recent weeks.

“You will recall that in a recent appeal to you a group of our members, tagged “Concerned SWAN members”, demanded that the 2019 SWANECO as presently put together by the National Chairman of SWAN, Honour Sirawoo, was inappropriately constituted.

“The group (had) also argued that the committee was not going to organize free and fair elections, pointing out several anomalies and further predicting the demand on the arguments of several congresses of some state chapters of the association.

“You will no doubt agree with this group, as well as those state chapters, that indeed there is a cause for concern on the state of affairs in SWAN.

“This situation, and the pressing need to right the wrongs and put the Association back on its feet, has therefore forced several members of the Association to meet in Ilorin on Tuesday, with representatives from 22 of the Association’s state chapters,’’ the chairmen said.

The chairmen, in the letter signed by Akpera Nase and Ahmed Aigbona from Benue and Edo respectively, said SWANCredCom, is to organize the elections in Abuja under the supervision of NUJ.

“The committee is also to ensure all efforts are made to have all the state chapters represented at the elections.

“ It is our expectation that the committee, in spite of prevailing circumstances, will be able to organize free and fair elections which will bring into place a new leadership in the Association.’’

The committee headed by Abdulrahman also has Timothy Omodude (Edo), Zare Baba (Adamawa), Abdulrahman Abolore (Lagos), Kennedy Onwunali (Imo), John Adams (Niger) and Abdullahi Tanko (Katsina).

Share on Facebook

Featured

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

Published

5 days 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.

Share on Facebook