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By Abiodun OBA
The Federal Government has lamented that the steel sectors had suffered for decades, struggling since independence more than 60 years ago.
The Minister of Steel Development, Prince Audu Abubakar, expressed at an interactive session with journalists in Abuja, stressing that Nigeria that has more than 90 per cent of materials needed for production of steel locally spends about four billion dollars annually for steel importation.
Abubakar however, assured that the current administration is set to launch a 3-year roadmap on reviving Nigeria’s steel industries.
Audu reiterated that President Bola Tinubu’s seriousness in revitalising the steel industry in the country triggered the creation of the steel ministry.
“As you know the Ministry of Steel Development was created by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in August 2023. So, we’re about five and a half months old, basically with the mandate to revive the steel industry.
“Steel plant, which was set up to be an avenue for industrialization of Nigeria more than four decades ago, in fact, more than 45 years ago, has hit the brick wall. To say the least.
“The steel industries haven’t done so well in terms of local production, and consumption of steel is actually in excess of 5 million metric tons.
“So, the mandate that the President has given us is to do some homework, try and revive the industry is a difficult task.
“What we’ve done is we’ve already prepared an internal roadmap, which we will then commission to consultants to bring in a global perspective.
“You know, we have our own views internally, but sometimes it’s good to bring someone that will bring a different perspective. This is how things work in India, China, among others.
“You know what lessons we can learn from those various markets to make our steel industry boom. We also even though government has its own perspective given our own views, we also need to take views from various societies, and various interest groups and Nigerian Society of engineers, and Nigerian meteorological society, Nigerian Institute of Architects, you know, different people that play an important role in the steel sectors, it’s not a simple.
“It’s not as simple as just us, you know, doing something based on our own perspective.”
Emphasizing stakeholder participation, the minister said, “We have to take the views of all stakeholders and ultimately, you know, it’s going to cost us some money. Do we have the funding at the moment?
“So we think that all things being equal in the next three months, you know, we should, we should, we should have a roadmap. And the reason why it hasn’t come out earlier is because of, you know, some funding constraints, but we think that we will launch the map very quickly.”
In her welcome remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Mary Ogbe, the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Steel, emphasized that artisans must be certified and trained before they can be able to work.
She added that it was the relevance of the steel industry to the economic development that made the president create the steel ministry.
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