Ajaokuta Steel Complex located in Kogi state is undergoing rescucitation as the present administration seems to have a lot in stock for the ailing company. SALIHU OYIBO reports.
Brief background
The integrated steel complex was conceived with the vision of erecting a Metallurgical Process Plant with other auxiliaries and facilities to stand as the bedrock of Nigeria’s economy.
Apparently, the project was embarked upon as a strategic company that would be viable in creating jobs as well as earn foreign exchange to boost the economy of the country.
Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL), National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO) , Delta Steel Company (DSC), among others, in 1979, were established under Section 2 of National Steel Council Decree No 60 of September 19, 1979 which was incorporated as limited liability companies.
Former President Shehu Shagari in 1979 laid the foundation stone of the integrated steel plant in Ajaokuta on 24,000 hectares of green-field landmass, built on 800-hectares and within his first tenure, the project reached 98 percent completion.
The steel company has four different types of rolling mills inside the plant. The Billet Mill produces billets; the Light Section Mill also produces round, square, strip and angles metals.
In addition, the Wire Rod Mill produces wire rods and rebars used in construction companies and production of nails, fencing wire, rope mesh, bolts and nut and netting and the Medium Section and Structural Mill produces parallel flange channels, equal angles, unequal angles and standard channels.
Sadly, despite the potentials Ajaokuta Steel Company has for the development of the country, successive administrations since 1984 paid lip service to the completion of the steel plant expected to be the source of diversification of the country’s economy from crude oil.
Efforts to rejuvenate the giant steel
Evidently, the effort made by President Muhammadu Buhari was thwarted by Covid-19 pandemic that ravaged the entire globe, but despite the set back , his administration was able to clear all litigation surrounding the steel company as a result of failed concession.
The current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has shown the political will to complete the ailing steel plant. This he demonstrated in the appointment of Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu the son of the soil as the minister of steel development.
The new minister who was desirous of making serious impact hit the ground running after his inauguration. His visit to the steel company few days ago has restored the hope of many Nigerians that life will soon be injected into the moribund steel industry to serve the purpose of its establishment.
Ministerial press briefing
The minister while addressing the staff of Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL) at his maiden visit to the company, thanked President Tinubu for having the vision to create a steel development. Audu pledged his commitment to ensure the production of steel from the multi-billion dollar company in three-year plan, disclosing that the federal government has plan to make the Ajaokuta environ a Free Trade Zone to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and to diversify the economy of the country.
The minister, who toured the facilities in the plant, said that the visit was aimed at getting a first-hand knowledge of the problems stopping production in the company in a bid to proffering solutions.
He assured that President Bola Tinubu had also taken interest in the resuscitation ofthe complex by appointing him as the pioneer minister to show the world the importance of steel development to industrialisation.
According to him, the key point agenda of ‘Renewed Hope’ of President Tinubu are jobs creation, diversification of the economy and to attract Foreign Direct Investment, saying Ajaokuta steel has a significant roles to play in achieving the hope.
”If we are able to revitalise Ajaokuta Steel vompany, it would help us to achieve this. This key point agenda would also help us eradicate poverty. To achieve this, we have put together two documents. A three-year plan for the revival of Ajaokuta Steel Company which would have a Small and Medium Term Plan. In addition to this, there was a five-year plan which would also see to ensuring the production of steel in other parts of the country.
“Part of the things is the roadmap to designate the 24,000 hectares land of Ajaokuta an Industrial Park, to create a Free Trade Zone that will further attract Foreign Direct Investment,” he stated.
He said that his job is to ensure that all those typical issues that held the plant from producing be resolved.
”And by the first term of this administration, if we are able to produce some sheet of steel, it will be a significant achievement. I have taken an extensive tour of the complex and plants and there are lots of opportunities that if we are able to unlock, we would be able to create over 500,000 jo that will benefit kogites a bit more importantly, Nigerians.
”This will also guarantee that everyone benefits from the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I am on the tour with potential foreign investors and experts who have shown interest in bringing FDI to unlock these potentials.
“We have the Russians, Americans, Arabs and Chinese who are showing interest. They have come to show their desire to carry out an advanced technical audit to see what needs to be completed. After my findings from here, we will forward everything to Mr President for his approval,” the minister said.
Enumerating potential benefits
In his welcome remarks, the sole administrator of the steel company Engr Sumaila Abdul-Akaba said the minister’s visit would offer him a first-hand information about the factual truth of the steel plant.
Abdul-Akaba stated that the opportunities that would accrue to the state as the host in particular and the nation in general when the plant is completed and operationalised cannot be overemphasized.
“It is appropriate to mention a few here. The annual revenue generation from this project when commissioned will substantially impact significantly on accruals to the national revenue sources and help to galvanise development in Kogi, the host state and Nigeria generally.
“The required rail link between Ajaokuta and Oturkpo for bulk materials movement and the planned rail link from Jakura to Eganyi will open the limestone mines and pop up economic activities in Nigeria and open the rail transportation corridor of Kogi state, North-central states to coastal ports and international markets.
“The direct impact of these gargantuan investments on the socio-economic life of our dear state and Nigeria can therefore be better imagined as upstream, downstream and spin-off industries will spring up in the entire state.
“Thus from Idah to Ankpa, Anyigba to Adogo, Okene to Kabba, Egbe and from Ogori to Okene, Lokoja to Kotonkarfe and, indeed the entire state, there would be vast industrial estate. “Unemployment, the bane of our youths and its attendant security connotations would become a thing of the past in the state.
“Honourable minister, for the sake of posterity, we have therefore, before us, some mutually-beneficial and complementary roles to play in order that this massive national asset lives up to its tag as the bedrock of Nigeria’s industrialisation.
“As you start this journey posterity beckons on you to write your name in gold,” the sole administrator stated.
Speaking on the current status of the steel plant, Engr Abdul-Akaba said that the concept of engineering generally is universal, noting that technology and its application do not change or get obsolete rather they get improved for efficiency of operation and application with new ideas.
He added that in the case of Ajaokuta Steel industry, the key technology of application and process are the Blast Furnace (Basic Oxygen Furnace –BOF), Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) and a few others that are little known.
The sole administrator however noted that in Nigeria, the two major steel plants of Ajaokuta and Delta Steel Plants adopted the two major processes of steel making, saying that the choice of technology, that is Blast Furnace – Basic Oxygen Process (BF=BOF) adopted for Ajaokuta Steel Plant, as it is today, is still the best and the most popular worldwide, adding that for several years till date, over 70 per cent of world steel production is done through the Blast Furnace Process Technology.
“So the issue of Ajaokuta Steel Plant being obsolete does not arise because it is an engineering element that is flexible and amenable to improvement, but the main question would be whether the Blast Furnace process of iron and steel making is still relevant. The answer is ‘Yes’.
Is the Ajaokuta Steel Plant process amenable to upgrade and improvement especially in the areas of automation, ‘yes’ would be the answer.
“For our level of development, this process remains the best and most friendly to employment generation and downstream economic activities for a developing nation as even developed nations are still building blast furnaces,” he stated.