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Take Advantage of Covid-19 Vaccination, NYSC DG urges PCMs

Published

5 years ago

October 16, 2021

The Director General, National Youth Service Corps, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim has enjoined serving and prospective Corps Members to quickly take advantage of the opportunity provided by the Federal Government by making themselves available for the COVID-19 vaccination currently going on nationwide.

He made this appeal in a Webinar organised today by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in conjunction with the National Youth Service Corps NYSC aimed at sensitising the 2021 Batch ‘C’ Prospective Corps Members (PCMs) on safety measures adopted to ensure a safe and COVID-19 free Orientation Course Exercise nationwide.

According to the NYSC helmsman, the NCDC/NYSC partnership has remained strong in the fight against the deadly pandemic and this is evident in the role Corps Members played and have continued to play in public health training, sensitization, production and distribution of facemasks, hand sanitisers, detergents and other disinfectant devices.

General Ibrahim who hailed the recent pronouncement of the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 stating that as from 1st December, 2021, no public officer would be allowed into office premises without showing evidence of vaccination.

He therefore advised both serving and prospective Corps Members to ensure that they get vaccinated in order not to run the risk of being caught on the wrong side of this pronouncement, as they would be treated just like other employees in their various places of primary assignment.

He further stressed the need for Corps Members to be change agents and strive to dispel the myth on COVID 19 vaccination, noting that during the recent nationwide doctors’ strike, NYSC Corps personnel were working. ‘We don’t go on strike’, the DG added.

Ibrahim also appealed to the prospective Corps Members to avoid night journeys while travelling to their respective Orientation Camps and further advised them to plan out their journeys in such a way that it does not exceed 6pm.

In the event they are unable to get to their destination on or before 6pm, he encouraged them to break their journeys as arrangement for transit accommodation have been provided in military barracks and other government designated safe havens in order to continue their journey the next day.

He further warned them against boarding vehicles along the way, but go to government designated parks where most of their drivers have already been trained and sensitized.

He informed the Prospective Corps Members that their days of reporting to camp have been spread over five (5) days in order to ensure that there is no overcrowding during registration.

He consequently enjoined them to adhere strictly to their days of reporting to the camp as indicated on their NCDC form.
The Director-General also drew the attention of the prospective Corps Members to the use of Social Media, noting that they are expected to follow official NYSC handles for authentic information.General Ibrahim also used the opportunity to appreciate the Federal Government, Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, as well as the NCDC on the safe reopening of Orientation Camps since November last year.

While congratulating the outgoing Director-General of NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, on his appointment as Assistant Director General, World Health Organisation, he also thanked the Federal Government for the continued provision of Rapid Test Kits, as well as vaccination in all the camps nationwide.

He thereafter stated the commitment of the Scheme in ensuring that the safety protocols as prescribed were strictly adhered to in all the NYSC camps. Earlier in his address, the out-going Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu welcomed the participants to the Webinar which he said was very important in sensitising the prospective Corps Members on the measures put in place to ensure they are safe from the dreaded COVID-19, as well as educate them on what is expected of them in ensuring that the camps remain COVID-19 free.

According to him, the COVID-19 pandemic which started in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and got into Nigeria in February, 2020, greatly impacted the nation on the two major fronts of public health and socio-economic sphere of life.

The public health was at a great risk while the socio-economic life was grinding to a halt, with the lockdown including the Orientation Course programme.

He further appreciated the NYSC for its prompt and proactive stance in frontally attacking the pandemic which culminated in a partnership with the NCDC and wondered the extent of health and social devastation that would have happened if there were no Orientation Course programmes since the advent of the pandemic last year.

He also commended the NCDC/NYSC partnership which has afforded the NCDC the opportunity to train some Corps Members in the area of public health, thus increasing the capacity of the agency in combating COVID-19.

Dr. Ihekweazu then charged the prospective Corps mMembers to take personal responsibility in holding one another accountable and effectively utilise the various provisions made available in camps and observe the non-pharmaceutical protocols towards ensuring that there was no incident of transmission in the camps.

The Webinar featured question and answer session where panelists educated participants on various issues of concern as regards COVID-19 and safety protocol, especially in an orientation camp scenario.

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

Published

11 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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