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Team FCT Arrives Ilorin For 2020 NSF North Central Zonal Eliminiation Battle

Published

7 years ago

January 21, 2020

Joel Ajayi

The contingent from the Federal Capital Territory Abuja made up of five teams that departed Abuja on Monday have arrived Ilorin the Kwara State capital for the north central zonal qualifiers ahead of the 2020 National Sports Festival in EDO State later in the year.

This was contained in a statement issued by the Head of Media FCT Sport Abuja Mr Agbor Clinton in Ilorin on Tuesday Morning.

Bidding the contingent farewell in Abuja before departing at the FCT Sports Complex Abuja the Director of Sports FCT Mrs Dilichukwu Onyindima , accompanied by Some Chairmen of FCT Sports Associations charged the contingent to be role models and make the FCT proud by qualifying for the events in Benin City.

“The Minister of FCT Muhammad Bello and the Minister of state Ramatu Tijani Aliyu wants you to be good ambassadors of FCT, in terms of your conduct, on and off the field.

“I want to assure you that this period will be different from any other time in the past.

“We want all our team sports to feature in the main Games in Benin City and that is the reason why we are all here today.

The FCT Director of Sports tasked team FCT to go all out as defending champions and maintaining a hundred percent record not only by qualifying but by winning gold back to back in the National.Sports Festival.

Mrs Dilichukwu added that modalities have been put in place for the contingent to succeed at both the Zonal Elimination and main events coming later in EDO State.

Responding on behalf of the teams the Secretary General of the FCT Football team Haruna Ilerika promised that they would do their best to give FCT all the tickets at the Zonal Elimination.

FCT top the nineteen northern states and finished overall 7th in the last National Sports Festiva.

The North-Central Zonal Elimination competition which would determine the States that will represent the Zone in Team Sports Events at the 2020 NSF in Edo State, will kick-off on Tuesday with the draws followed by the action in the field and would come to an end on Thursday, 23rd January,

Team FCT will feature in Football Male .Handball Male.Beach Volley ball both Male and female and cricket in female event respectivly

The 2020 National Sports Festival, NSF, is scheduled to hold between March 22 to April 1st 2020, in Benin City, Edo State, with over 8,500 athletes expected to compete for 3,000 medals from 33 sports events.

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

Published

4 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.

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