JONATHAN, please complete Ajaokuta Steel Complex

BY OBAKA ABEL INABO

I am using this medium to make a passionate appeal to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR to kind­ly muster the political will and complete the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL). Be­fore I state the potentials of the steel plant, let me put it on record that the Ajaokuta Steel Plant is not obsolete as erroneously put across to the public by some people who are largely ignorant of steel technology. Let me quote from the recent technical au­dit conducted by the Ukrainians on the plant: “…the situation of the steel plant’s equipment and facilities are satisfactory. Me­chanically, the steel plant equip­ment and facilities are generally in good condition.”

I made reference to the quota­tion above because we need to inform the good people of Nige­ria that the Blast Furnace Tech­nology of Steel Making adopted in ASCL is still the best method through which large volumes of steel are produced in the World today. In year 2011, for instance, the World Steel Statistical Year Book put total crude steel pro­duction in 2010 at 1.4 billion tonnes. Out of this, about 1.04 billion tonnes were produced through the Blast Furnace Tech­nology, giving an average of 74% of the total steel produced in the world. This is the same technol­ogy adopted in Ajaokuta Steel Plant. The question then would be: can a technology that pro­duced 74% of world total steel production be obsolete? It is also important to note here that, all developed nations got to where they are today because they have a virile steel sector; even when some of them like Japan have no raw materials for steel produc­tion. In contrast, Nigeria that has virtually all the needed inputs for steel production is still in the dol­drums!

Indeed, Ajaokuta Steel Plant is a great opportunity for the Nige­rian nation to get industrialized as rightly stated by former Mili­tary President, General Ibrahim Babangida during his working visit to the plant in the eighties. Gladly, the present management of Ajaokuta Steel Plant led by Engr. Isah, Joseph Onobere, the Sole Administrator is determined to ensure that it does not miss the great opportunities this project has for the nation. It is gratifying to note that the Ajaokuta Steel Plant is 98% technically ready in terms of equipment erection. Completed are the rolling mills, thermal power plant, administra­tive block, housing estates, ac­cess roads and the Engineering Works Complex, which is made up of Equipment Repair Shop, Forge and Fabrication Shop, Foundry and Pattern Making Shop, Machine and Tools Shop and Rubberizing and Vulcanizing Shop.

For a nation like Nigeria, the merits of a completed and com­missioned steel plant like Ajao­kuta Steel Complex are numer­ous. A functioning ASCL, for instance, will generate employ­ment for the citizenry because with the completion and com­missioning of the steel plant to produce 1.3million MT per an­num of liquid steel, it would be­come a net provider of employ­ment with direct employment of about 15,000 and indirect em­ployment of about 500,000 of un­skilled, semi-skilled and skilled workers and various profession­als in the downstream and up­stream industries and services. Ajaokuta will also facilitate tech­nological growth, acquisition of technical expertise, provision of input for infrastructural develop­ment, thus adding value to our natural minerals that abound and untapped all over the country.

It is trite to state that without developing our own indigenous steel industry, we will end up exporting our natural minerals at very cheap rates, and import the finished products at exorbi­tant prices as it is with oil today. In addition, a developed steel industry will save our scarce for­eign exchange as well as create opportunities for varied capacity building. Obviously, attaining the vision 20-2020 and the Federal Government Transformation Agenda will be a mirage with­out a virile steel sector. A fully completed and commissioned Ajaokuta Steel Plant will vastly increase economic opportunities for its host communities, reduce poverty through job creation  and wealth generating activities. Since experts have predicted that oil boom will end by 2016 and we are already witnessing dwindling global oil price, there is the need to diversify the economy by com­pleting the Ajaokuta Steel Plant.

Since his appointment as the Sole Administrator of Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited in 2012, Engr. Isah, Joseph Onobere, a metallurgist has held series of consultations with the work­force and sensitized them to brace up for the task of starting up operational activities in some key selected areas of the plant that could be put into operation. It will be recalled that for about five years the ASCL workforce especially the Senior Staff Asso­ciation was embroiled in inter­nal strife which made manage­ment/workers’ harmony almost a mirage. Because of his belief that a healthy and harmonious workforce is a prerequisite for a peaceful industrial environment and productivity, the new man­agement under Engr. Isah Joseph Onobere, waded into the mat­ter and with the support of the Honourable Minister, Mines and Steel Development, Arc. Musa Muhammed Sada, FNIA and the Permanent Secretary of the Min­istry, Mr. Linus Awute, MNI, the industrial crisis was resolved.

While resolving the disquiet amongst the workforce, Engr. Isah, Joseph Onobere articulated his plans to put the completed units of the plant into use. The plan to start up these completed plants was borne out of the de­termined desire of the new man­agement under him to engage the workforce in more productive activities, preserving the plant and equipment by operating them is the best engineering and technical way of preservation as well as generating some revenue, thereby reducing dependence on government. It was also intend­ed to add value to the Ajaokuta Steel Plant as an asset, given its high standing in any possible self-sustaining Public Private Part­nership (PPP) that may be con­sidered after the completion and commissioning of the steel plant. Operating the completed mills would enable Ajaokuta Steel Plant key into the Transforma­tion Agenda of the Federal Gov­ernment and its Vision 20.20.20 blue print on steel.

In conclusion, the Federal Government should do every­thing possible to ensure the com­pletion and commissioning of the plant as an integrated steel plant, since the arbitration issue with the Indian firm (Global Infra­structure Nigeria Ltd) has been resolved. To this end, the Fed­eral Government should provide necessary logistics especially the rail line. In addition, staff welfare should be improved through ad­equate remuneration with a good salary template for the steel sec­tor.

Obaka, an economist writes from Lagos. 08032061373-sms only, please