Abuja, Nov. 23, 2023: The Minister of Works, Mr David Umahi, says that the Federation Government is planning to deploy the steel from the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited in Kogi State to building and construction of roads.
Umahi said unveil the plan after an inter-ministerial meeting with the Minister of Steel Development , Mr Shuaibu Audu in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu in Abuja
Mr Uchenna Orji, Chief Press Secretary to the Minister of Works made this known in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to him the two ministers have resolved to synergize and strategize in tapping into the opportunities in Ajaokuta Steel Plant for the development of road infrastructure in Nigeria.
He said the far reaching resolutions of the ministers underscored the imperative of coordination, cooperation coherence, and complementarity in the execution of Federal Government’s action plans for national development.
He said the minister of works in his remarks after the meeting said the Ministry of Steel Development would play a major role in the road infrastructure revolution plan envisioned by Mr President by providing more than 16 per cent of the materials needed for the construction of Nigeria’s roads in concrete pavement.
Umahi said that tapping into the opportunities in Steel Industry would not only creat jobs and wealth for Nigeria’s population, it would also create a global market and encourage industrialization.
“We are going into concrete road, in this concrete road, about 16 percent of it is from Steel while 30 percent is cement .
“If we start waiting for FG it might become difficult. We did Return On Investment (ROI) , the profit we could have made, part of it will go to bank interest ,we are looking at commercial bank but Federal Executive Council has to endorse it.
Umahi also commended Audu for his efforts in developing the steel sector, noting that steel industry is the bedrock of Nigeria’s industrialization and the backbone that stimulates national development and economic boost for the industrial growth of any nation.
He assured the Hon. Minister of Steel Development that his Ministry would work collaboratively in his efforts of enhancing the potentialities of Ajaokuta Steel Plant- the largest Steel Mill in Nigeria.
“One of the renewed hope agenda of Mr President is to think outside the box , Mr President inherited a large shunk of debt from the past administration.
” The beauty about it is that he is not complaining , he knew how the country was before he took the job and how it is. The good thing is that if you have passion for something God will give you an idea ,”
Earlier, the Minister of Steel Development, Mr Shuaib Audu said the meeting was how to restart Steel production at Ajaokuta Steel Plant .
“The Hon Minister of Works has made it very clear that the Federal Government is looking to develop over 30,000 kilometers of road .
“And a large component of that will be from Steel wrought , and percentage of that Steel wrought will be produced in Ajaokuta. We came to have a discussion on how to implement the process for producing it in Ajaokuta within the shortest possible time”
Audu emphasised the importance of the initiative by both ministries and optimistic that it would provide the needed economic boost for the nation, generate revenue and provide thousands of direct jobs for skilled and non- skilled technicians and hundreds of thousands of unskilled jobs in Nigeria.
“And we are to achieve two or three things , one to create job opportunity for Nigerians as a whole, two, to ensure that the corridor around the North Central Zone and around the Ajaokuta Warri axis is busy with activities.
“Thirdly, the plant has been inactive for close to four decades and we are here to restart the plant within the shortest possible time,” he said.
