Buhari’s Government And Ajaokuta Steel

Ajaokuta Steel Company

By Michael Jegede

With what a completed Ajaokuta Steel Company (ASCO) holds for the
growth of Nigeria’s economy, it is sad and disheartening to see that
successive governments in the country have absolutely failed to do the
needful to ensure the steel firm comes fully on board after about
forty years of awarding the contract. Most pathetic is to hear that
the project which has consumed over $5 billion and required just about
$650 million to be completed, reached about 98% technical completion
before work was stopped on it in 1992.

Prior to the election of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as President in 2011,
he had asserted during his campaign then that “One thing that is dear
to Nigerians is the Ajaokuta Steel Complex and until we revive that
complex, we cannot talk about Vision 20:2020. This is because for you
to play big globally, you must industrialize and for you to
industrialize you must produce steel. The Ajaokuta complex must be
revived.” Despite this proclamation by Jonathan, not much was done by
his government towards the revitalization of the abandoned national
treasure. All through Jonathan’s years as President, it has been zero
allocation for Ajaokuta Steel in the annual budget.

The outgoing Senator, representing Kogi Central Senatorial District in
the seventh Senate, Nurudeen Abatemi-Usman, for instance, had noted
that the outgoing President did not demonstrate enough zeal towards
steel development in Nigeria, while flaying the zero allocation for
capital projects in the budget for Ajaokuta Steel Company in 2014.
Abatemi-Usman, a champion of steel development known for his frontline
crusade for the completion of Ajaokuta Steel, had asked: “Where is the
place of Ajaokuta Steel in our bid for industrial revolution? Do we
seem to understand the importance of steel and the significant role it
can play in enhancing our economy? If you ask me, I will say Mr.
President (Jonathan) is just paying lip service to the issue of
Ajaokuta Steel and steel development in general. When he (Jonathan)
came to Lokoja, Kogi State during the electioneering period in 2011,
the thrust of his campaign promises for which our people voted for him
was his pledge to revive the Ajaokuta Steel Complex. Over three years
down the line, we’ve not seen much from him in that regard.”

However, the questions in the lips of many observers now are: will the
Buhari government taking off from May 29, 2015 make significant
difference in the actualization of the Ajaokuta Steel dream? Is it
going to be another four years of lip-service to the issue of steel
development in the country? Will Buhari on his own part strive to
fulfill his pledge on Ajaokuta steel, the largest integrated steel
complex in the Sub-Saharan Africa?

Just like Jonathan in 2011, Buhari was reported to have vowed to
resuscitate ASCO if elected president of Nigeria during his
electioneering campaign in the build up to the 2015 presidential
election. The ex-General explained in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital
that the revival of the company which has remained moribund for years
will generate employment for the country’s teeming youth population
and create wealth for Kogi State and the nation as a whole. He gave
assurance that the fortunes of the steel complex will change for the
better the moment he assumed office.

Since his victorious outing in the presidential poll, several calls
and appeals have gone to Buhari not to renege on his promise to make
Ajaokuta steel work. Many have noted that it will do the country a
world of good for Buhari’s government to use steel as the basis and
launch pad for the outright diversification of the country’s economy.
The monolithic status of our economy where we seem to depend solely on
oil as our only major source of revenue is, in the thinking of keen
observers, not an ideal situation when we have other numerous natural
resources at our disposal left untapped.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the umbrella body for all Nigerian
workers emphasized the need for the administration of Buhari to focus
on the revival of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex located in Kogi State at
this year’s May Day celebration.
  President of the Congress, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, in his address
maintained that the revitalization of the steel complex would spur
industrialization and pave way for job creation.

According to him, “This edifice (Ajaokuta Steel Complex) was conceived
to be the cornerstone of our administration. Unfortunately, our
political class has refused to accept the simple truth that no country
can truly industrialize without any iron and steel industry. The fate
of Aladja, Oshogbo, Jos and Katsina steel rolling mills post
privatization is too grim to recall here.”

In the same vein, Chinedu Nwozor, the deputy President, Nigeria Union
of Mine Workers (NUMW), equally implored the President – elect to
resuscitate the Ajaokuta Steel. The NUMW President stressed that solid
steel base remains the true pillar for industrial revolution,
describing ASCO as the economic hope of Nigeria.

The Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society (NMGS) also joined their
voice to the call on the President - elect to keep to his words on
Ajaokuta Steel in the interest of our dear country, Nigeria. President
of NMGS, Prof. Olugbenga Okunlola, at a press conference in Abuja
recently, said Buhari should leave no stone unturned to see to the
full operation of Ajakouta Steel and Itakpe National Iron Ore Mining
Company (NIOMCO) when he kick-starts his government.

According to Okunlola, ASCO and NIOMCO have the potentials to serve as
the backbone for economic diversification and industrialization of the
country. He said: “The potential of solid minerals sector is
overwhelming and diverse; the diversity enables it to have the
capacity to absorb any economic shock locally and globally. A nation
that has more than 36 mineral types in about 8000 locations and still
counting has no reason to complain about the poor state of the
economy.”

Mr. Dan Kunle, a business development consultant with special interest
in energy and steel had once lamented in an interview that “We have
all the natural resources to build a robust and competitive iron and
steel industry which will consequently stimulate the other industries
in Nigeria for our economic growth, but appropriate leadership has
eluded us since 1966. It has been hope!, hope! hope! And yet failure,
failure, failure. So, something is fundamentally wrong with us…”

Arguing that a Nation without a robust Steel industry can never be a
global player, Kunle said: “Nigeria with a population of about 160
million needs iron and steel of her own in order for her to make any
meaningful economic and technological development… Egypt produces
about 4% of the total world iron and steel output. Iran produces about
5-6%, Pakistan and India have moved up on the graph, while China,
Australia, Canada, South Korea, USA, Russia are the big steel power
countries. No nation can flex its muscle or show her strength of
influence when she has no steel production competency and capacity.”

Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Libya, Venezuela, Indonesia and Mexico are oil
producing countries with exceptionally excellent oil reserves. Yet,
they considered it necessary to likewise have robustly viable steel
industries. Buhari must therefore not hesitate to put in place
necessary machineries that will dismantle all the stumbling blocks
(including the alleged external influence) militating against our
entrenchment of a solid, vibrant and reliable steel sector upon his
enthronement as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria.

Michael Jegede, media aide to Senator Nurudeen Abatemi-Usman writes from Abuja