The Kaduna State Government has commenced the reconstruction of the Ahmadu Bello Stadium (ABS) in order to bring it to international standards, following the formal transfer of ownership of the sports facility from the Federal Government.
Speaking during an inspection tour of the stadium in Kaduna on Tuesday, the Commissioner of Information-Designate, Ahmed Maiyaki, stated that the stadium—built in 1964—had fallen into a state of serious disrepair and could no longer host national, let alone continental or global sporting events.
He said: “This facility is not fit to host any national event, not to talk of continental or international tournaments”, stressing that “the vision of Governor Uba Sani is to deliver an international standard stadium that will attract foreign investment, revive Kaduna’s sporting glory, and create jobs for our youths.”
He pointed out that at its peak, Kaduna produced more than half of Nigeria’s national football team, including stars such as Emmanuel and Celestine Babayaro, Tijani Babangida, and Garba Lawal—thanks to the quality of sports facilities available at the time.
“We are bringing back the history and glory. This stadium will be a source of revenue for the state and a catalyst for sporting and economic development,” Maiyaki added, assuring that the project will be completed within record time.
Besides, the Commissioner for Sports Development, Professor Benjamin Kumai Gugong, explained that the renovation, approved in the 2025 budget, will be executed in phases.
The first phase, he said, will focus on the main bowl, two training pitches, a 48-room hostel, and courts for basketball, handball, beach football, and beach volleyball.
“The level of dilapidation is what informed the award of this contract,” Gugong said, while adding, “Once completed, ABS will be able to host both FIFA and CAF competitions.”
The Commissioner for Youth, Gloria Ibrahim, described the project as a strategic investment in human capital development, noting that sports remain one of the most viable platforms for wealth creation and talent discovery among young people.
“Even now, this facility is not fit for training, so athletes have only been managing. It’s better we endure for a short time and have a modern facility than continue with what we have,” she added.
Nigeria: Kaduna Commences Reconstruction of Ahmadu Bello Stadium
Nigeria to Reposition Its Steel Sector -Minister
By Martha Agas
Nigeria has committed to repositioning its steel industry as a driver of industrialisation and economic diversification.
The Minister of Steel Development, Prince Shuiab Audu, stated this at the opening of the maiden edition of the National Steel Summit on Wednesday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the two-day summit is on the theme’ Rebuilding and Consolidating Nigeria’s Steel Industry: Collaborative action for Sustainable growth and Global competitiveness ‘.
Audu stated that the commitment aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to grow Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to a three-trillion-dollar economy by 2030.
He said that the objective of the summit was to appraise the current status of the industry, explore investment opportunities, identify policy and infrastructure gaps, and provide recommendations.
He added that the summit was aimsed at deepening collaborative partnerships, knowledge exchange between industry players and policy makers, and inclusive dialogue to forge a common realistic direction for a sustainable Nigerian steel industry.
According to him, inspite the ugly history of steel development in Nigeria in the past four and half decades, the President Tinubu’s administration has shown willingness to address the protracted challenges facing the industry.
He said the recommendations of the summit would be key to rejuvenating the steel sector in Nigeria and ensuring its sustainable development.
He noted that the eight-point agenda of the President reflected the critical place of the steel sector in the realisation of the various goals, especially as it relates to industrialisation, manufacturing, and unlocking the natural resources potential of the country.
According to him, the steel sector is the critical backbone of an industrialised value chain, being the essential base material for significant sectors such as construction, automobiles, electronics, shipbuilding, military equipment, and telecommunications.
The minister noted that though Nigeria was endowed with steel-making raw materials, it was yet to fully exploit its potential for industrial development due to the absence of operational integrated steel plants as off-takers.
He emphasised that iron and steel production would generate employment opportunities and provide capacity for self-sustaining growth, alongside offering a unique opportunity to facilitate a diversified economic base for any nation.
The minister added that local steel production in Nigeria would drive massive local steel raw materials consumption along with its economic benefits.
“The commissioning of the first phase of Ajaokuta Steel Company, alongside the former Delta Steel Company with a combined installed capacity of 2.3 million tonnes per annum will require about eight Million Tonnes per annum of local Steel raw materials consumption.
“The industry is made more competitive with the availability of infrastructures like rail, efficient/affordable power supply, access roads to the mines, Port facilities/habours, Inland waterways navigations and Natural Gas supply.
“The theme of our summit deliberately speaks to global competitiveness as we position to becoming a regional hub in Africa based on the various obvious enablers to our advantage,” he said.
Declaring the summit open, President Tinubu decried that inspite Nigeria’s vast natural endowments in iron ore, limestone and coal, Nigeria imports over 90 per cent of the steel it consumed.
Represented by Vice President, Kashim Shettima, he said that the Ajaokuta Steel Company, once envisioned as Nigeria’s industrial crown jewel, stood idle, a monument to abandoned ambition.
Tinubu said his administration was determined to reposition the steel industry to become a viable sector.
“I stand before you today to declare that we will rethink, retool, and revitalise the Nigeria’s steel sector.
” Our vision is to transform Nigeria into a regional steel powerhouse, achieving self-sufficiency, generating employment, conserving foreign exchange, and building the industrial base that will drive our economy for generations to come,” he said
Preserving Archibald’s Legacy In Kagoro- By Samuel Aruwan
While rounding up classes over the weekend, I came across a piece expressing concern over the possible alteration of significant historical structures associated with revered Thomas Archibald, the Sudan Interior Mission (SIM) missionary who opened the Kagoro SIM Mission Field and the founder of Boys Brigade in Kagoro. Sudan Interior Mission is now Serving in Missions.
According to information gathered from Mr. Kibai Kwallah, a church built by Archibald, situated within a school in the Kpak area of Kagoro, is earmarked for expansion. This has raised concerns that the original structure, believed to be of historical significance, may be compromised.
Kibai explained in our conversation that the institution needs a larger edifice due to the increased number of worshippers, and construction of the new building is in progress. He noted that the plan is to possibly demolish the existing one built by Archibald once the new one is completed. Kibai suggested using technology to stream services, and introducing two services to accommodate the increased number of worshippers, rather than demolishing the historical church.
He further mentioned that the management plans to capture the edifice with high-resolution images before demolishing it, although I have not confirmed this and even the story as a journalist.
My appeal is that, whatever action is taken, preserving the rich history should be prioritized. There are many advantages to protecting historical sites, including preserving cultural heritage, identity, education, research, tourism, as well as economic benefits, as highlighted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). These benefits largely form the argument for preserving materials and items related to history.
But who exactly was Archibald? First, we must note that the Sudan Interior Mission, now known as Serving in Missions, was founded in 1893 by Walter Gowans, Thomas Kent, and Roland Bingham. They were young men with a passion to preach and reached the unreached in the Sudan. Walter was 25, Kent was 23, and Bingham was 21. Braving various perils, they persevered, and sowed the seeds for our forebears and ourselves to be Christians today. There is a touching story about how the trio met a Superintendent of the Wesleyan Mission upon their arrival in Lagos on December 4, 1893, who said, “You will never see the Sudan, your children will never see the Sudan, your grandchildren may.” The rest, as they say, is history.
Within a year of their arrival, the duo of Gowans and Kent paid the supreme price as they died of malaria while navigating their way into Sudan. Gowans passed away on November 7, 1894, and was interred around Girku in present-day Kaduna State, while Kent died on December 8, 1894, in Bida, Niger State. Bingham, who survived, returned to Canada, formed a council, and later made a comeback in 1900. Although his second attempt was unsuccessful, his team made a breakthrough between 1901 and 1902, opening the Pategi Mission Field in present-day Niger State.
There’s a poignant story from Bingham’s account when he visited Gowans’s mother, Mrs. Margaret Gowans, to deliver her son’s personal belongings. According to Bingham, she met him with an extended hand, and after a moment of silence, she said, “Well, Mr. Bingham, I would rather have had Walter go out to the Sudan and die there, all alone, than have him home today, disobeying his Lord.”
Back to Archibald’s Kagoro. The SIM branch that is the precursor to today’s Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) got its maiden name in Kagoro. The name ‘Evangelical Church of West Africa,’ with the same acronym ECWA, was chosen and adopted in Kagoro between January 7-10, 1954, during the All-SIM Conference where all the delegates stood up to signify their acceptance.
Archibald was the missionary who arrived in Kagoro on April 7, 1927, and opened up the SIM Mission Field in the area and beyond. He arrived from Kwoi, where he had been since 1921 working building upon the foundation laid by Reverend F.E. Hein in July 1910, now 115 years ago. Hein had set the ball rolling and left in December 1913. Before Hein’s departure, Reverend William Watson and Dr. Andrew Stirrett, also known as ‘Bature Mai Magani,’ had joined the Kwoi Mission Field in November 1912.
Watson is another notable character whose emotional story I will recount in greater detail someday. His first wife died in December 1918, during the Flu pandemic which killed around 50 million people globally just after World War I. Watson, named ‘Amara’ by the early Ham Christians, was remarried in June 1927 to Miss Haldane in the SIM Church in Kwoi. I have visited Mrs. Watson’s grave, whose first name is not stated in the archives, or is possibly missing from the historical records. I am also looking forward to visiting the grave of Stirrett, who died in Jos, Plateau State, in July 1948.
Archibald nicknamed ‘Dachep’ arrived Kagoro with his wife, Sarah also also known as ‘Dariya’ and their daughter, Grace, accompanied by many Ham Christians who had embraced the faith in Kwoi. These included Malam Toro and his wife Hara, Gama Monde, Malam Nyam, and the duo of Gyet and Barnabas. Malam Toro, who later became a pastor, preached on his bicycle in many villages surrounding Kagoro until his retirement in 1959.
According to Mr. Yanet Afuwai in his book “The Place of Kagoro in the History of Nigeria,” the arrival of Archibald, and of Christianity, in Kagoro followed the efforts of one Afi Nkwom of Kukum Gida, an adventurer and explorer. Nkwom, Afuwai said, was tall, strongly built, and had an unceasing desire to visit new places and discover what life was like in those areas. He had visited Zaria, Jos, Bauchi, and Kaduna. During his visit to Kwoi, he was impressed by the way the Ham people mingled with the white Christian missionaries, which influenced their further influx with the arrival of the Archibalds.
Archibald embarked enthusiastically on his mission work in Kagoro, preaching from hamlet to hamlet and village to village. On May 6, 1928, he won his first converts, Bagaiya Nwaya and Kuliyak Kabombuok. He taught the new Christians reading and writing, and the first converts began to win more converts before completing their Bible School. Churches were built during his era, and he spread the faith beyond Kagoro to Sholio, Atyap, and Bajju lands as the knowledge of Christianity grew. I have attached Thomas Archibald’s family picture featuring him, his wife Sarah, and daughter Grace.
In addition, he built the first mission house, later occupied by Mr. Tanis, who superintended over the Kagoro Bible Training School now ECWA Theological Seminary established in 1929. Building on the foundation and legacies laid by the famous Archibald and his team, a Hausa Mission Magazine named LABARIN EKKLISIYA was established in Kagoro in 1947 for the Southern Kaduna Christian audience. The magazine was published by SIM in collaboration with the Council of Christian Missions in Northern Nigeria and was later renamed KAKAKI.
In summary, Archibald is a name that is central to the history of Christianity in Southern Kaduna. History is life itself. History is everything. Let us do well to cherish it, for history is the remembrance of the past—a path tracing where a people have come from, and a baseline to chart the course of the future. To strive for its preservation is a wise and worthy endeavour, a precious service to generations unborn.
Aruwan is a postgraduate student at the Ahmadu Bello Univer
sity, Zaria.
aruwansamuel@aol.com
Re: Petition Against HRH Agwatyap, Sir Dominic Gambo Yahaya: A Deliberate Attempt to Destabilize Peace in Atyap Chiefdom and Zangon Kataf LGA
The attention of the leadership of Atyap Community Development Association (ACDA) and the entire peace loving people of Atyap land, home and abroad, has been drawn to a dangerous, provocative, unfounded and highly divisive anonymous petition circulated by a “Concerned Residents of Zango Urban,” falsely accusing His Royal Highness, our Paramount Ruler, Agwatyap, Sir Dominic Gambo Yahaya of injustices and oppression against the Hausa and Fulani community in Zangon Urban.
We view this write-up not only as a desperate and malicious attempt to tarnish the hard earned reputation of the Agwatyap, but as a direct assault on the peaceful coexistence that communities and people in Zangon Kataf, and the Sen. Uba Sani and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu governments, have worked tirelessly to build over the years. The contents of the said petition are not only manifestly false, but inciting, inflammatory and reckless with the potential and intension of destabilizing the peace and provoke avoidable ethno-religious tensions in the area. Accordingly, we call on the security architecture in the land to unearth these so call concern citizens and bring them to book.
The petition which has been in circulation reads partly:
“We, the concerned members of the Zango Urban community in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area, Kaduna State, hereby bring to the attention of relevant authorities, stakeholders, and peace-loving Nigerians the growing injustice and oppression being perpetrated by Agwa Atyap (also known as the traditional ruler of the Kataf people) against our peaceful communities that made up the Atyap Chiefdom.
Shockingly, Agwa Atyap, under whose traditional authority we fall, has chosen to misuse his powers by oppressing the Zango Urban community. Alongside some of his chiefs and prominent Kataf individuals, he has denied our people access to their farmlands, lands which our forefathers have cultivated for over 400 years.”
It is so disturbing because the said petition is against a leader known by many Hausa and Fulani in Zangon Kataf, to be generous, compassionate and fair them. They also know him to be an ambassador of peace; with outstanding records of maintaining lasting peace in the face of unprovoked attacks, maiming, burning and killings in his domain.
ACDA therefore wish to state categorically as follows:
That His Royal Highness, Sir Dominic Gambo Yahaya, the Agwatyap, is a peace-builder and statesman who has consistently championed inclusive dialogue, just and fair dealing in his Chiefdom and peaceful coexistence among all ethnic and religious groups in his domain including the Hausa and Fulani of Zango Urban.
That some disgruntle negligible elements in Zangon Kataf settlement, who disguise themselves as Concern Residents of Zango Urban, are not happy with the sustained peaceful coexistence in Atyap land, Southern Kaduna and Kaduna State in general, brought about by the deliberate action of His Highness, the Agwatyap, Sen. Uba Sani and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. They are therefore bend at creating ethno-religious tension in Kaduna State starting with Zangon Kataf. This would not happen in our land and among our people.
That the allegations of land seizure, targeted harassment, or ethnic oppression are entirely baseless, malicious and without any iota of truth. These claims are fabricated to mislead the public and incite hatred against the Atyap people and their leadership. We challenge the authors of this petition to come out to prove the allegation contained therein publicly.
That land or farm land in Atyap land, like in any other communities in Nigeria, are not owned by tribe or ethnic group but by individuals or families and that land disputes are either between individuals or families. Such disputes are always settled through traditional arbitration or in the regular courts and not through incitement or blackmail of traditional leaders or ethnic groups. We wonder why the faceless land claimants are afraid to come out publicly and lodge their grievances with the appropriate organs or institutions.
The government should act fast to ensure the peace process put in place by His Highness and the leadership of the Atyap community Development Association is not truncated by the so call faceless Concern Residents of Zangon Urban.
6. That the said petition is clearly the handiwork of a few mischief-makers and ethnic chauvinists claiming to be Concern Residents of Zango Urban whose agenda is to sow seed of discord and revive the dark days of communal violence. We shall resist this with all lawful means available.
7. It is very unfortunate and shameful that the traditional leadership in Zango Urban District claimed helplessness in calling the miscreants parading themselves as Concern Residents of Zango Urban to order despite accepting that the contents of the petition is blatantly false and defamatory. This amounts to tacit endorsement of illegality that should attract disciplinary measures and reprimand.
8. We call on the so call Concern Residents of Zango Urban and the traditional leadership of Zango Urban District to henceforth desist from sponsoring, supporting or turning a blind eye to inflammatory propaganda targeted at the leadership of the Atyap traditional institution, and by implication the peace-loving people of Atyap land, as the days of doing so and getting away with it are over. All hands should be on desk to sustain the peace we are enjoying in our land.
9. We demand a retraction of the inciting and libelous publication immediately as failure will be interpreted as a direct provocation and deliberate sabotage of peace efforts in our land.
- We call on the security agencies to carry out detailed investigate to unmask the authorship and intent of the petition and bring the perpetrators to book before they plunge Zangon Kataf into violence.
- We reaffirm our loyalty and unwavering support for His Royal Highness, Sir Dominic Gambo Yahaya, the Agwatyap, Zangon Kataf Local Government, the Kaduna State Government and the Federal Government of Nigeria and pledge that we will remain law abiding at all times. We urge all our sons and daughters and well-meaning Nigerians to disregard the said petition in its entirety as we await the action of the security apparatus in the area to swiftly do the needful.
Long live Atyap Land.
Long live Zangon Kataf LGA.
Long live Kaduna state.
Long live Nigeria.
DR. SAMUEL T. ACHIE
President
Atyap Community Development Association.
Int’l Youth Day: Nimrod Salutes Nigerian Youths, Reiterates Commitment to Sports Development
The President Nigerian Volleyball Federation Engr. Nimrod Musa, has reiterated his commitment to the development and empowerment of young people through sport and across Nigeria.
The President, who made this known in a statement issued by his media assistant, to commemorate this year’s International Youth Day, commended Nigerian youths for their resilience and their roles in promoting peace, unity and the socio-economic development of the country.
He applauded their remarkable achievements across various sectors and emphasized the need for sustained efforts to provide young people with opportunities for growth, education, and skill development.
Engr. Nimrod Musa, who noted that youths remain a cornerstone of his mission, disclosed that young people have greatly benefited from several transformative programmes he has facilitated and implemented beyond.
The NVBF President also cautioned youths against indulging in substance abuse and engaging in activities or vices that could hinder their personal growth and pursuit of excellence.
He assured that more youth-centered programs and initiatives will be introduced to promote sustainable development and expand opportunities within the state and the country at large.
While wishing all Nigerian youths a peaceful and meaningful celebration, Engr. Nimrod Musa urged them to keep aspiring, learning, and pushing boundaries towards a brighter future for themselves and the nation.
Attacks on Female Journalists Often Go Unreported and Unpunished – NGO
By Martha Agas
An NGO, Media Rights Agenda (MRA) says attacks on female journalists often go unreported and unpunished.
MRA’s Executive Director, Edetaen Ojo, stated this at a two-day workshop on the safety of female journalists on Tuesday in Abuja.
Ojo stated that women whether in Newsrooms, on the field, or online, were confronted with harassment, intimidation, the risk of sexual violence, cyberbullying, and other targeted abuses.
He said that such attacks undermined not only their safety, but also the right of all Nigerians to receive information from diverse and independent sources and perspectives.
“When a woman in journalism is forced out of her profession by abuse, we lose not only her perspective but the diversity and depth that should be an intrinsic feature of the media landscape.
“Protecting female journalists is therefore, not just a matter of human rights or gender equity, it is also a matter of media freedom, democracy, and public interest, “ he explained.
Ojo said the workshop was organised against the backdrop of an increasingly hostile environment for journalists, particularly female journalists who face unique, gender-specific threats and attacks.
According to him, attacks on journalists, including physical assaults, arbitrary or unlawful arrests, and online harassment, not only endanger individual media workers but also undermine media freedom, democracy and the public’s right to information.
He expressed concern that in Nigeria, such incidents were widespread and rarely brought to justice, as most perpetrators act with impunity and were usually not held accountable.
“This persistent culture of non-accountability in turn discourages journalists from pursuing justice and emboldens attackers.
“Yet, Nigeria’s legal and institutional framework offer several avenues for reporting these attacks and seeking redress.
“ We believe that the effective use of these channels requires knowledge of the available mechanisms, an understanding of the processes involved, and the ability to navigate potential obstacles, “he said.
Ojo said the workshop sought to explore legal and institutional avenues available to journalists and media organisations, and how these could be used to combat impunity and enhance journalist safety.
“Our aim is to understand the problems deeply, to bring to the surface the lived realities and experiences of female journalists in Nigeria and to design practical, actionable strategies for prevention, protection, and redress.
“We also want this gathering to fuel advocacy and policy reform, improve newsroom practices, and build solidarity networks that will keep us and our colleagues safe.
“Such intensive advocacy has become necessary in the light of the reluctance of Governments in Nigeria to take measures to ensure the safety of journalists, even in disobedience of court orders, “ he said.
Ojo said the workshop would focus on three priorities: preventing attacks on female journalists, ensuring their protection, and holding perpetrators of these attacks accountable, which required concerted efforts to achieve.
In her presentation on `Gendered Attacks on Female Journalists in Nigeria`, Mrs Blessing Oladunjoye described such attacks as a systemic pattern targeting women for their gender and profession to silence their voices in the media.
Oladunjoye urged media organisations to strengthen institutional accountability and adopt policies that protect journalists from gender-based violence, adding that open dialogue promotes better safeguards, support systems, and reporting mechanisms.
Similarly, MRA’s Project Officer, Ayomide Eweje, urged female journalists to be intentional on planning for their physical and digital safety in the course of their duties.
She urged them to advocate organisational safety measures tailored to their specific needs and for the provision of insurance policies to protect journalist.
Miss Comfort Emmanson: A Lesson To Learn – By Dr Jarlat Uche opara
Life happens and when it does the lessons that it comes with are always appreciated in retrospect. Looking back, miss Comfort and all that played roles in that drama would certainly be very unproud of their actions.
They would have seen the very options available to them which they never realised, which if taken would have averted that ugly and very much embarrassing situation.
By now, after watching the clips of her being dragged out of the aircraft, she would be sober and humbled. She would be blamining herself for not have obeyed that simple instruction of putting off her phone. She should regret her violent behaviour to the cabin crew, certainly would regret not putting on brassiere or wore something strong not skimpy and light.
She probably thought before the incident happened, how brave and overly outspoken she was, but the consequences of this seemingly bravery has poured ice on her hitherto boiling blood.
She would wish she never entered that flight in the first place. We must always learn from life. But learning through the hard way in a very embarrassing situation that would for a long time place stains on ones image isn’t the best.
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Both Miss Comfort and all the Ibom Air staff that got involved in the drama of dragging her, blocking her from exiting, posting the video of the obscene site of the dragging, by now would have some regrets.
In life, let us all be more circumspect and have a rein hold on our emotions. What seems very appropriate when emotions flay would be processed differently when it calms down.
At all times, let ones emotional intelligence be activated, for the guilt of an action carried out without the control of ones emotion would be unimaginable.
Would she have been dragged the way she was dragged if she had a name, very profound and resounding? Would she had been remanded in prison and banned from flying, without hearing her side of the story if she was a Kwam?
In Nigeria, the cobweb of law is always weak and malleable when the Kwams enter it, but becomes very resillient and sticky when names with no surname walks into it.
Before you dare, before enagage in any unwholesome and untoward situation, assess your surname and know its capacity; if weighty enough to break the arms and legs of law or weak to be captured and messed up by law.
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Nigeria is a place where laws and their enforcement are based on surnames. There are surnames that are heavyweight while others are featherweight. If yours is the latter, better behave and maintain your lane in law and order else your middle name would be a sorrowful sorry.
If it were in Western world those her dangling balloons that were forced to make an emergency public appearance would have made her rich. I am suspecting that someone in mischief delibrately let them out. Such a person should be fished out and punished accordingly.
Until our laws are dispensed dispassionately with no halo effect syndrome, no matter whose ox is gored and until our justice system becomes blind but sees only through the lenses of justice, equity and fairness, we would always be shortchanged by its implementation.
To all ladies that have jettisoned in the name of fashion and Genz the traditional way of dressing, this Comfort Emmanson’ ugly experience would be an eye opener. Those that made brassiere and undies as part of dressing codes are no fools.
#Jarlathuche@gmail.com
Itasa Community Protest: Mining Coy Says Demands Unrealistic
By Martha Agas
A mining company, Architype Industries Nigeria Ltd. has described the demands of the Itasa community in Iwajowa Local Government Area of Oyo State, as unrealistic and outside the scope of its Community Development Agreement (CDA).
The Managing Director of the company, Adeniran Ajibade, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja that the company was not opposed to a review of its CDA as requested by the community.
Ajibade
NAN recalls that leaders and youths of Itasa staged a protest in March over the alleged exploration and exploitation of its natural resources by Architype Industries Nigeria Ltd.
They accused the mining company of breaching the CDA that provided for adequate compensation and environmental rehabilitation, and called for government intervention to address the situation.
Reacting to the allegation, Ajibade said that the community, through its counsel, Femi Aborisade, produced a draft for the review of its CDA, demanding a 30 per cent share of the minerals from the company, among others, which he declined to sign.
“Aborisade said that the company’s operations will remain illegal if the demands are not met.
“Many of the covenants in that particular draft CDA were not in compliance with extant laws, and did not follow the procedures of CDA as launched by the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development.”
He decried the provision where the counsel asked that the community would be sharing 30 per cent of minerals with the company.
“They also mandated that the company would have to tar 70km of roads, all the road network in the town and link the town with surrounding communities.
“They talked about a lot of infrastructural development in terms of looking at the community health centre, palace, town hall and ultra-modern shopping mall,” he said.
According to Ajibade, during a recent meeting with the community facilitated by the Mines Department in Ibadan, the community was informed that its demands were unrealistic and illegal.
“I think the demands are actually grandstanding.
“The counsel wants to introduce four projects to the CDA and wants to stop the business that will generate the resources to implement the projects,” he said.
Ajibade said that although the company had been present in the community for about 25 years, actual mining began only recently, as they had spent years on exploration until their recent breakthrough in discovering lithium ore.
“It is not at this point that they will now be thinking of replacing us with foreigners,” he said.
The managing director said that in a fortnight the company would meet with the community in the Mines Office to resolve all the contention in the draft CDA.
He said that the meeting would be followed by a marathon negotiation in the interest of both parties.
“We agreed that it is in our interest to come together so that we can have peaceful possession of our site,” Ajibade said.