Mohammed Shosanya
Nigeria is currently expediting action to collaborate with financial agencies to revive the Ajaokuta Steel,Minister of Steel Development, Shuaibu Audu,has said.
The Minister,who spoke at the 7th PEEF Annual Conference (PAC) in Abuja recently,lamented that the privatization of the steel sector in Nigeria has over the years not yielded the desired result.
The theme of the conference was:”Accelerating Steel Sector Development in Nigeria & Achieving Zero Corruption in Procurement Management”
Represented by A. T. Umar,the Minister revealed that the funding of the Steel Companies in Nigeria became challenging which was what led to the privatization of the steel companies.
He said,most of the companies that were privatized could not take off, these were the fallouts of privatization,adding that Nigeria is at a stage where it’s rethinking whether to reverse the privatization of the steel sector in the country.
“During the President Buhari’s administration a lot of fund were invested on mining but the steel sector was neglected. As a government we need to produce steel from raw materials, this will bring economic prosperity to the nation. What the Minister is doing is to think outside the box in developing the Ajaokuta Steel.
“We want to collaborate with agencies, including financial agencies to see what we can do. We are working to develop the necessary manpower to man the sector,” he said.
Speaking,the Chairman, Board of Trustee (BoT), People Expertise and Excellent Foundation (PEEF) Engr.Abdullar Bukar advocated the need for the revival and expansion of the Ajaokuta Steel.
The development,he said,will bring about economic prosperity for Nigeria.
He said,there was need for a corruption free environment in the management of the nation’s investment in the steel sector.
He said,”Let us develop our country, so that we can process what we have and also sell finished products. Switzerland does not produce a single raw cocoa but they are the one who make the most money out of cocoa. They take raw materials that we produce, add value to it, they sell it at the price and we also go and buy”.
According to him,steel has the potential to generate N7billion annually for the country if properly harnessed.
He added:”Nigeria is exporting cement, it is also possible to export steel, therefore Ajaokuta should not only be revived but should be expanded.
“The most important part of it, is that we also need a corruption free environment to ensure efficient management of our investment on steel”
