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Volleyball: Nimrod joins the World in celebrating Int’l Day of Sports Dev and peace

Published

7 years ago

April 6, 2020

Volleyball: Nimrod joins the World in celebrating Int’l Day of Sports Dev and peace

As Nigeria joins the world in celebrating International Day for Sports Development and Peace, the President of Nigeria Volleyball Federation (NVBF), Engineer Musa Nimrod has urged volleyball players to keep all hope alive during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nimrod advised volleyball athletes to abide by guidelines laid down by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

Nimrod also urged the athletes to continue to keep fit in their respective destination adding that there might be bombardment of competition immediately the COVID-19 comes to an end.

Nimrod said, “Nigeria Volleyball players must continue to keep hope alive amidst this COVID-19 pandemic. We are in trying times and the athletes must pray for its leaders daily.

“The Federal Government has declared total lockdown in Abuja and Lagos while some states have declared partial lockdown in order to curtail the spread of the virus. This means the volleyball family must abide by the guidelines laid down by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) like washing of hands regularly.

“Since stadia have been closed by the Federal Government of Nigeria, volleyball players must keep active in their various homes because their might be bombardment of national competition, international tournaments as well as Olympic qualifiers”.

Nimrod commended the minister of sports, Sunday Dare for his activeness during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said the minister of Sports have shown to the world that he is capable of piloting the affairs of sports in Nigeria.

Nimrod said, “You will agree with me that the sports minister is playing a vital role in the fight against COVID-19. He always sensitize the athletes and released some of the sports facilities as centres to treat patients across the Federal”.

Reacting to the request of cancellation of the 2020 Tokyo Games beach volleyball Africa qualifier results held in Nigeria by Kenya Volleyball Federation, Nimrod said the decisions of Confederation of Africa Volleyball (CAVB) and International Olympic Committee (IOC) stands.

Nimrod said the President of CAVB, Amr Elwani had declared that the outcome of three that had already been played would remain which also includes the qualifiers held in Nigeria.

Speaking on CAVB’s YouTube channel Elwani said, “CAVB agreed to stop and postpone all upcoming activities and competitions even the Continental Cup events until further notice. This decision came in the best interest of all the parties considering that the health of the athletes, officials and fans is to be given top priority by all sporting authorities”.

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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.

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