The Action for Actualisation of Iron and Steel Projects in Nigeria (AAISPN) and the ETENYIMA Foundation (TEF) have urged President Bola Tinubu to complete the Ajaokuta Steel Plant.

The Chairman of AAISPN, Kabir Abarkaka, made the call at a news conference on Sunday in Abuja.

He said both organisations spoke for the coalition of concerned citizens who at the onset, had high expectations for the steel plant.

Mr Abarkaka said that citizens were pained that the 65 years old Ajaokuta Steel Plant was still in the test-tube and wanted President Tinubu to keep his campaign promises on the project.

He said that 90 per cent of the skilled staff trained by the federal government were already out of service in retirement.

“We are calling on the new administration to take the plant out of the woods,” he said.

The chairman said that a fully functional steel sector was a one-off panacea to Nigeria’s fuel subsidy debacle and a formidable tool for economic diversification.

He explained that the plant was designed to deliver a three-phased geometric production of 1.3 million tonnes of steel products in the first phase.

According to him, it will deliver up to 5.2 million tonnes in the third and final phase; the first phase stopped after reaching 98 per cent completion and so it is technically ready.

“What remains is just igniting of the blast furnace, to keep the mills running and when it starts, it can run for over 20 years uninterrupted.

“A fully operational integrated Ajaokuta Steel Complex is expected to complement steel production in the Delta Steel Plant in Aladja, Delta State, the Osogbo Rolling Mill in Osun, the Katsina Rolling Mill in Katsina and the Jos Rolling Mill in Plateau for manufacture of iron, steel and allied products.

“The plant is capable of providing direct and indirect job opportunities for more than 500,000 Nigerian youths; regrettably, the giant bedrock of Nigeria’s industrialisation, is yet to find its feet,” he said.

Mr Abarkaka said that iron and steel products wet among the leading consumers of Nigeria’s foreign exchange.

According to him, in the last nine months in 2022, Nigerians spent one trillion naira on iron and steel imports.

He said that the estimated annual per capita consumption of iron and steel in Nigeria rose from 5kg in 1968 to 150kg in 2020

“A fully operational upstream steel sector has the capacity to open up a floodgate of business opportunities that will support national index of the military and security power, improve foreign exchange earner, constitute a tool that is critical for job creation and industrial growth.

“A functional Ajaokuta Steel Plant is a vibrant tool for economic diversification and a stimulant for the Nigerian industrial revolution plan that can snowball the nation into rapid industrialiation.

“This will enhance national power and promote employment generation that will galvanise the nation into national prosperity,” he said.

Mr Abarkaka said with earnings from steel production, Luxembourgers enjoyed the world’s highest per capita gross domestic product.

He said a worker in Luxembourg enjoyed an average gross salary of 7,000 to 8,000 dollars  a month which is about N6 million.

He said Luxembourg youth unemployment rate which was 16.4 per cent during the fourth quarter of 2019, had improved to 6.8 per cent in 2020, saying that as of February, the youth unemployment rate in Luxembourg again leapt to 4.8 per cent.

Tom Ohikere, a member of AAISPN, said that the steel sector, if fully developed, was a viable option to the oil sector.

He said that to achieve Tinubu’s plan to generate job, Ajaokuta steel plant was where to invest.

Mr Ohikere said that if Kaduna State could build a steel plant from scratch to finish in the last five years, Nigeria could complete and inaugurate the Ajaokuta Steel Plant which is at 98 per cent completion with the right political will.

(NAN)