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We Are 100% Ready for Productive 2020 Prudent Energy Handball Premier Tournament- Maigidansanma

Published

6 years ago

October 29, 2020

….As Teams Arrives Friday, Hostilities commence Saturday 31st

Joel Ajayi

The Secretary-General of Handball Federation of Nigeria Mohammed Haruna Maigidansanma has revealed that the federation is 100 percent ready to have the best and special 2020 edition Prudent Energy handball league.

He stated this in an interview with Journalists in Abuja on the federation preparedness for the biggest handball tournament in the country.

According to him, we want to thank God for giving us another year, 2020 edition of Prudent Energy handball Premier League is going to be a special edition, consolidated one.

“Consolidated in the sense that we are not able to organize it in the phases, unlike previous editions, we used to have the first Phase by April and second phases by October because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but we are able to collapse it and have championship here in Abuja.

“Having said this, it’s so special in the sense that, there is a lot of hectic challenges of COVID, we went through a lot of assessment from the ministry to ensure we have all the COVID measure, procedural on the ground and through that ministry has sent the inspection teams they came, they saw and they were able to assess and made observations and some corrections so, along this line we have been given the approval.

“We thank the ministry for believing in the federation and we are going to follow tenaciously arrangement of the COVID.

“We are expecting the teams from Friday, although we would have started the league ENDSARS protest cause the delay and this Friday by God’s grace the teams will arrive and by Saturday 31st October we start the matches

“And we are going to have 10 female teams and 12 male teams respectively.” He hinted

Speaking on the expectations Maigidansanma, said that every team is coming to win and luckily for them, the subsidy has been jerked up to N300,000 against the previous N250,000 while the winner price is N1.250, 000 million; N1,000,000 and N750,000 respectively for both male and female categories.

“With all these motivations, it’s going to spur all the team to the action, however, we have sent out messages, we have communicates all teams all of them have done the test as they are arriving on Friday, we are going to get their certificates of the test which I believe they will not disappoint us.

“Every team is coming here to prove their worth, I want to believe we are going to have a very productive championship though, and there will be no spectators apart from stakeholders, Ministry possibly the journalists.

We are expecting to see the emergence of new players, this year we have newly four teams Delta force, Kogi Confluence for male and Kwara Adorable Angels, and Benue Queens and who promoted into elite division among these they are coming into the elite and they have young players, so it going to be an avenue to see more of our national teams.”

When asked if the federation having any challenge toward the Tournament? He replied: we don’t have many challenges because its sponsor championship and we have been enjoying the support of the ministry, the facilities are ready, both for the indoor and outdoor as well as the high-performance center where athletes will camp.

“The only challenges we have are the COVID but we are going to overcome it.” He assured.

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

Published

3 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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