AJAOKUTA (Ministry of Mines and Steel Development Report) – “The Strategic plan for the development of the nation’s steel industry are being implemented by the Federal Government,” the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Musa Mohammed Sada informed during a working visit to the Ajaokuta Steel Development Company, the National Iron-Ore Mining Company – Itakpe, the West African Ceramics Company site as well as the KCM Company Exploration site and the African Resources Company Exploration site in Kogi State recently.
Musa Mohammed Sada also said that one of the strategies for the implementation is the invitation of private investors for investment in the integrated steel plant. He added that private investors had shown interests and signed Memorandum of Understandings with the management of the company towards reactivating and operating the already completed plants at the company, comprising: the Thermal Power Plant, the Rolling Mills, the Metallurgical Training Centre and the Engineering Workshops.
According to him, part of the strategic plan to move the steel industry forward is to avoid the past mistakes which militated against the development of the sector and assurance of value – addition by operators in the sector.
The Minister further disclosed that part of the strategy will be to dovetail the operations at the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited towards actualization of the Industrial Revolution Plan of the Federal Government. He intensified that part of the strategic plan is to engage the production of spare parts for the needs of the automobile industry in the country at the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited considering that Nissan automobile has assembled and produced the first made – in Nigeria car in 2014.
On the desire of the Federal Government to attain self-sufficiency in the production of ceramic tiles and availability of Iron-Ore and other solid mineral resources for the production of steel and allied products in the country, he revealed that the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga and the Director-General of the Bureau for Public Enterprises, Benjamin Diki engaged the working visit in his company to synergise strategies and actions towards realizing the Federal Government’s Industrial Revolution Plan.
In another development, the Minister of Mines & Steel Development during a courtesy visit on the Governor of Kogi State, Idris Ichalla Wada earlier said that the purpose of the working visit was to inspect and review what is existing at the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited, the National Iron-Ore Mining Company – Itakpe, the West African Ceramics Company site, the KCM Company Exploration site and the African Resources Company Exploration site.
The Governor of Kogi State, Idris Ichalla Wada in his remarks reiterated the need to activate and operationalise the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited towards realization of Nigeria’s industrial development. He opined that a vibrant steel industry is germane to achieving the Industrial Revolution Plan of Nigeria, expressing delight for the plan of the Federal Government to operationalise the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited in line with its Industrial Revolution Plan.
He also uttered fulfillment that the legal impediment surrounding the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and its former concessionaires has been resolved which opens the way for the reactivation and operationalisation of the Steel Integrated Plant by private investors. He assured that the Government and Kogi State people would give the necessary cooperation and support to the actualization of the Industrial Revolution Plan in line with the Transformation Agenda.
The Governor thanked President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for sending the two Ministers on the working visit to the State, saying the visit has raised their hopes in Kogi State that one day Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited will be up and running. “I am impressed with what I saw during the working visit to the plant,’’ he said.
In his remarks at the occasion, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga stated that there was no way the country can revolutionise its industries without a vibrant steel sector. He added that an operational and vibrant Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited provides the answer; noting Government must do everything to maximize the investment potentials of Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited whose equipment are not obsolete, but very much functional.
“We should be able to produce what we consume as a nation yearning for industrialization. There must be value – addition to our natural resources before they are exported to other countries to create jobs and wealth for Nigerians. Nigeria’s Industrial Revolution Plan is on course because the necessary infrastructural facilities such as good road networks, dredging of rivers, reactivation of rail lines and electricity as well as appropriate investment environment to drive the plan are gradually being provided in the country,” Aganga indicated.
In his welcome address, the Sole Administrator of Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited, Isah Joseph Onobere thanked his guests for the working visit and said that the visit demonstrated that the struggle for a functional Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited as a key player in the transformation of the Iron and Steel subsector in Nigeria’s Industrial Revolution Plan has come to fruition. He disclosed that with the continued support of the Governor and the two Ministers a lot more would be achieved at the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited for the benefit of Nigerians.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Dauda Kigbu and the Directors in the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development were present at the occasion.
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