The Nigeria Union of Mines Workers (NUMW), Ajaokuta Steel branch has described the basic oxygen furnace technology adopted for the building of Ajaokuta steel plant as the best.
The union said it is viable and flexible in operation, adding that “it is not obsolete as being insinuated”
Speaking with newsmen Wednesday in Lokoja, the chairman of the union, Ajaokuta steel branch, Comrade Salami Mohammed Jimoh, said the basic oxygen furnace technology has the capacity to process the least acceptable grades of iron ore, adding that the technology aside its durability “is also quite flexible in operation.”
Comrade Jimoh averred that if the total world crude steel production as at December 2012 stood at approximately 1.5 billion tones, representing 100 per cent, and 70 per cent of the product was produced through the basic oxygen furnace technology, it was erroneous on the part of some people to claim that the technology is obsolete.
“Ajaokuta steel plant equipment and facilities are robust, rugged and designed with 25 per cent safety factor. Similar plants in Russia and Ukraine have been in operation for over 100 years till date.
“The technology, therefore, remains the most acceptable and applied technology in iron making process and it is the most established and energy-efficient steel process technology worldwide.
“In spite of the long partial operation of the steel plant, the technical readiness (98%) already achieved so far, has not diminished significantly as preservation of equipment and facilities are constantly undertaken by the steel workers which was confirmed by the technical audit report of 2010 and the recent one conducted in 2018.
“So, to say that the technology is obsolete means that the statement is coming from people who do not have an iota of the knowledge of basic oxygen furnace technology.”
While commending President Muhammadu Buhari for taking a bold step in returning the steel complex back to the original builder to resuscitate the plant in the interest of Nigerians, the union chairman maintained that Ajaokuta steel company when completed will generate over 15,000 direct jobs, including the over 50,000 jobs that will evolve from the downstream industries.
