The Federal Government has inaugurated the Nigeria-United States Committee on Strategic Cooperation in the Solid Minerals Sector, with a firm declaration that no national asset has been sold and reports of a $700 billion deal with the US are false.
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, who inaugurated the committee on Tuesday in Abuja, said the move follows the strategic cooperation framework established between Nigeria and the United States on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
Dr. Alake explained that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the US is a government-to-government platform designed to facilitate business-to-business engagements between American investors and Nigerian local operators, and not an asset sale.
“There is no sale of any Nigerian asset. There is nothing exchanging hands. 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 declared.
He dismissed reports claiming that the US was coming to take over Nigeria’s minerals and security architecture, describing such claims as untrue and a product of “riotous imagination.”
Alake said the solid minerals sector is central to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic diversification agenda, aimed at reducing dependence on a mono-product economy through sustainable development of the country’s vast mineral resources.
According to him, the Nigeria-US partnership is a strategic initiative to attract investment, promote technology transfer, strengthen local mineral processing and create jobs.
“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.
The Minister noted that Nigeria 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.
He said the Federal Government has now made local processing mandatory and will not grant mineral titles to investors without a clear pathway to processing in Nigeria. He added that the policy has led to the springing up of processing factories, including the largest lithium processing plant in West Africa recently commissioned in Nasarawa State by the Vice President, and informed the formation of the African Minerals Strategy Group.
Alake said investor confidence has returned due to macro-economic reforms by President Tinubu that guarantee security of tenure and repatriation of profits.
He charged members of the committee to discharge their assignment responsibly, noting that their work is strategic to achieving the President’s $1 trillion economy target. He urged them to ensure effective coordination, identify investment opportunities and translate the framework into measurable outcomes that will position Nigeria as a competitive player in the global solid minerals industry.
In his welcome address, the 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 mobilisation.
Speaking on behalf of the US Government, Economic Officer at the US Embassy, Mr. Jonathan Baas, said President Donald Trump has prioritised 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 a vote of thanks, the CEO/Managing Director of Nigeria Solid Minerals Company (NSMC) said the committee is expected to coordinate implementation, facilitate investment and monitor progress towards achieving the objectives of the Nigeria-US cooperation framework.
The inauguration, the Ministry said, 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.
