₦airaland Forum

Investors in the solid minerals sector have indicated interest in coming to Nigeria to invest $20billion in the sector in order to boost the nation’s economy.

Addressing newsmen yesterday in Abuja, the chief executive officer of a mining company, Daroo Nigerian Limited, and also the Nigerian partner and representative, Alhaji Mohammed Abba Liman, made the revelation.

He said they are interested in lithium, lead, gold, and other precious gems‘ production and their entire value chains.

Liman further described the ongoing implementation of the solid minerals sector development roadmap by the present administration as “a long term strategic vision”.

“Partners who have indicated concrete interest are coming from the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, China and France,” he said.

He further stated that Daroo Nigerian Limited is collaborating with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Solid Minerals Resources through Saudi Gold Refinery Company Ltd in Riyadh.

He said the Saudi authorities have reaffirmed that all Nigerian miners that are interested in partnership should get the approval of Nigeria‘s Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development for onward submission and consideration in Riyadh.

Liman said the sudden investors’ interest was part of the fallout of the 2024 Future Minerals Forum (FMF) hosted by the Saudi Arabia December last year in which Nigeria’s minister of solid minerals development, Dr Dele Alake, led the Nigerian delegates and made an impressive presentation and made Nigeria proud.

“The development was as a result of how the minister of solid minerals development, Dr. Dele Alake, with the express support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has taken proactive and revolutionary steps and opened up the sector for macro-economic investments and business activities to thrive.

“This is in line with the economic blueprint of diversification by the Tinubu administration and the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, is a frontliner in the drive towards achieving this ambitious economic agenda,” he said.

Liman said they are excited about the new policy direction of the country in the sector and find it suitable and comfortable to bring their money and put it where their mouths are.

He further stated that the Nigerian economy will soon witness a big boost via the solid minerals sector development with its billions of dollars value chain.

“It is high time we redirected our national economic and revenue policy priority from oil to the solid minerals sector development through strategic investment, which is exactly what the present Tinubu administration is doing.

“Currently, all of us who are stakeholders in the sector are very happy at what is happening and are ready to work with and support this government all the way towards actualizing the aims and objectives of the ongoing economic diversification,” he said.

henrimoto:
..Do you have a picture of the (size) onions of #10k. ?

henrimoto:
Mallam ManirBK, pls. How much is a bag of onions in your Area in Birnin kebir. ?

Marvieduke:
I feel for her, her feelings for the husband has been betrayed, just yesterday a thread showed where a meat seller was celebrated by his wife.... #Irony_of_life

Greenback:
Can that your naijiriya compete with Saudi Arabia or Iran?

Goodlady:
Let's ask Seunmsg, Manirbk & some that look like APC!

Nairalander248:
Lol, you mean 4years in this economy?

MightySparrow:
Hahahaha.
Is that future impossible tense?

usagee36:
Not with people like wike in politics.

oglalasioux:
You meant 400 years, right?

shortIGBOman:
No put Tinubu for this your prayers. The man na badluck

The Kano State University of Science and Technology Wudil renamed Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology is developing a robotic machine that will enable staff to carry out domestic chores like cleaning, sweeping and knighting in the institution.

The vice chancellor of the university, Professor Musa Yakasai, told newsmen that the robotic machine would assist the staff in discharging their duties optimally.

He said the management of the institution has greatly improved on Artificial Intelligence and Information Technology utilization to allow students to fully utilize technology and be part of the Global IT transformation.

He said the robot had already been tested and was perfectly working according to the design.

He said the university will create as many kinds of machines that will help reduce the workload of the institution.

The vice chancellor said the newly-renovated library had the capacity of seating over 500 students and was fully connected to the internet and other IT materials.

Professor Yakasai said though the university had created an e-library that is fully functional, students are encouraged to continue with the normal library system for improved reading culture.

Russia on Monday officially recognised Vladimir Putin as a candidate for the presidential elections in March, a vote that he is all but certain to win.

The 71-year-old has led Russia since the turn of the century, winning four presidential ballots and briefly serving as prime minister in a system where opposition has become virtually non-existent.

The Central Election Commission said it had registered Putin, who nominated himself, as well as right-wing firebrand and Putin-loyalist Leonid Slutsky as candidates for the vote.

The election will be held over a three-day period from March 15 to 17, a move that Kremlin critics have argued makes guaranteeing transparency more difficult.

Following a controversial constitutional reform in 2020, Putin could stay in power until at least 2036.

Rights groups say that previous elections have been marred by irregularities and that independent observers are likely to be barred from monitoring the vote.

While Putin is not expected to face any real competition, liberal challenger Boris Nadezhdin has passed the threshold of signatures to be registered as a candidate.

However, it is still unclear if he will be allowed to run, and the Kremlin has said it does not consider him to be a serious rival.

Governor Nasir Idris has approved the payment of
N27,500,000 as tuition and registration fees of 38
Kebbi State indigenes at the law school.
This was contained in a statement signed by the
Commissioner for Justice, Dr. Junaidu Bello
Marshal and released to journalists in Birnin Kebbi
on Monday.


The statement said 28 Bar Part II students will
receive the sum of N750,000 each, while the Bar
Part I students will get the sum of 650,000 each.
“His Excellency’s approval became necessary when
the management of the Nigerian Law School
increased the fees to N476,000 for Bar Part II and
N353,00 for Bar Part I,” the statement also read.
It added that the students, through the Attorney
General and Commissioner for Justice, Dr Junaidu
Bello Marshall, commended the governor for his
gesture and assured his administration of their
resolve to be good ambassadors of the state.

EreluRoz:
Is this idea of a sponsored mass wedding a good thing?

eerekake:
Oh,fta don die kpatakpata.
I remember those days.

Missgreg0:
Wow

The UK said it is sending some looted Ghanaian “crown jewels” back to the West African country on a renewable three-year loan arrangement, 150 years after stealing them from the court of the Asante king.

According to the BBC, 32 items are returning under the loan arrangement. The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) is lending 17 pieces and 15 are from the British Museum.

Ghana’s chief negotiator Ivor Agyeman-Duah said he hoped for “a new sense of cultural co-operation” after generations of anger.

Some national museums in the UK including the V&A and the British Museum are banned by law from permanently giving back contested items in their collections, and loan deals such as this are seen as a way to allow objects to return to their countries of origin.



However, some countries laying claim to disputed artefacts fear that loans may be used to imply they accept the UK’s ownership.

A gold peace pipe, a sword of state and gold badges worn by officials charged with cleansing the soul of the king are some of the items to be returned.

Tristram Hunt, director of the V&A, told the BBC that the gold items of court regalia are the equivalent of “our Crown Jewels”.

Most of the returning items were looted during 19th-Century wars between the British and the Asante Kingdom of Ghana.

Mr Hunt said when museums hold “objects with origins in war and looting in military campaigns, we have a responsibility to the countries of origin to think about how we can share those more fairly today.”

He argued that museums will not “fall down” if they build these kinds of partnerships and exchanges.

He said the new cultural partnership is not restitution by the back door – meaning it is not a way to return permanent ownership back to Ghana.

This loan agreement is not with the Ghana government but with Otumfo Osei Tutu II, the current Asante king known as the Asantehene, who attended the coronation of King Charles last year.

Although the Asante Kingdom is now part of Ghana’s modern democracy, the Asantehene still holds an influential ceremonial role

The items will go on display at the Manhyia Palace Museum in Kumasi, the capital of the Asante region, to celebrate the Asantehene’s silver jubilee.

The Asante gold artefacts are the ultimate symbol of the Asante royal government and are believed to be invested with the spirits of former Asante kings.

Nana Oforiatta-Ayim, special adviser to Ghana’s culture minister, told the BBC: “They’re not just objects, they have spiritual importance as well. They are part of the soul of the nation. It’s pieces of ourselves returning.”

She said the loan was “a good starting point” on the anniversary of the looting and “a sign of some kind of healing and commemoration for the violence that happened”.

UK museums hold many more items taken from Ghana, including a gold trophy head that is among the most famous pieces of Asante regalia.

The Asante built what was once one of the most powerful and formidable states in west Africa, trading in, among others, gold, textiles and enslaved people.

The kingdom was famed for its military might and wealth. Even now, when the Asantehene shakes hands on official occasions, he can be so weighed down with heavy gold bracelets that he sometimes has an aide whose job is to support his arm.

Europeans were attracted to what they later named the Gold Coast by the stories of African wealth and Britain fought repeated battles with the Asante in the 19th Century.

In 1874 after an Asante attack, British troops launched a “punitive expedition”, in the colonial language of the time, ransacking Kumasi and taking many of the palace treasures.

Most of the items the V&A is returning were bought at an auction on 18 April 1874 at Garrards, the London jewellers who maintain the UK’s Crown Jewels.

They include three heavy cast-gold items known as soul washers’ badges (Akrafokonmu), which were worn around the necks of high ranking officials at court who were responsible for cleansing the soul of the king.

Angus Patterson, a senior curator at the V&A, said taking these items in the 19th Century “was not simply about acquiring wealth, although that is a part of it. It’s also about removing the symbols of government or the symbols of authority. It’s a very political act”.

The British Museum is also returning on loan a total of 15 items, some of them looted during a later conflict in 1895-96, including a sword of state known as the Mpomponsuo.

There is also a ceremonial cap, known as a Denkyemke, richly decorated with gold ornaments. It was worn by senior courtiers at coronations and other major festivals.

The British Museum is also lending a cast-gold model lute-harp (Sankuo), which was not looted, to highlight its almost 200-year-old connection with the Asantehenes.

The Sankuo was presented to the British writer and diplomat Thomas Bowdich in 1817, who said it was intended as a gift from the Asantehene to the museum to demonstrate the wealth and status of the Asante nation.

Ms Oforiatta-Ayim, the Ghana culture minister’s adviser, said “of course” people will be angry at the idea of a loan and they hoped to see items eventually returned permanently to Ghana.

“We know the objects were stolen in violent circumstances, we know the items belong to the Asante people,” she said.

The British government has a “retain and explain” stance for state-owned institutions, which means contested objects are kept and their context is explained.