Buhari’s Government And Ajaokuta Steel Micheal Jegede — Jun 2, 2015 3:23 am | Leave a comment 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 40 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 industrialise and for you to industrialise you must produce steel. The Ajaokuta complex must be revived.” Despite this proclamation by Jonathan, not much was done by his government towards the revitalisation 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 make significant difference in the actualisation 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 emphasised 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 revitalisation of the steel complex would spur industrialisation 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 industrialise without any iron and steel industry. The fate of Aladja, Oshogbo, Jos and Katsina steel rolling mills post privatisation 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 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.

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Should Ajaokuta steel company begin operation, our economy could be sustained.