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The Federal Government
of Nigeria has sought for options to develop the Iron and
Steel Sector for the industrial development of the country.
The Minister of State for
Mines and Steel Development, Alhaji Ahmed Mohammed Gusau
made the remark while delivering a keynote address at the
Iron and Steel Summit held in Lagos recently.
The Iron and Steel Summit
was organised by the Ministry of Mines and Steel
Development. The theme of the Summit was “National Strategic
Planning for Metals Sector Development”.
While declaring the
workshop open, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development,
Chief Sarafa Tunji Isola said that the Summit was designed
to produce a roadmap for the development of the Metals
sector for the attainment of the vision of President Yar’
Adua’s administration to make Nigeria one of the first 20
industrialised nations of the World by year 2020.
Chief Isola observed that
the Metals sector is one of the most valuable sectors of an
industrialised economy because it supports and stimulates
the growth of other sectors in any nation’s economy.
He added that the Metals
Sector in Nigeria is yet to reach its full potentials in the
development and consumption of key metallic products such as
Iron, Steel, Copper, Aluminium, Tin, Lead/Zinc etc as well
as in the exploitation of key metals such as Gold and
Silver.
The Minister said that the
Federal Government was poised to reposition operations in
the Steel Sector to realise the followings in the country as
encapsulated in Nigeria’s Minerals and Metals policy:
To achieve a substantial
increase in the per capita consumption of the major
commercial metals and alloys; become a major regional and
global producer of aluminium and steel products with a
production target of 500,000 tonnes per year of primary
aluminium and 12 million tonnes per year of Steel products
by the year 2020; attract private investment and expand
value addition in downstream industries through the creation
of an investment friendly environment; create a legal and
regulatory framework to control operations in the Metals
Sector; maintain environmental best practices and industrial
safety; provide appropriate social and economic policies by
government; encourage private sector participation through
formulation of appropriate policies and develop manpower to
meet the challenges of the metals industry.
Chief Isola disclosed that
the National Metallurgical Development Centre, Jos, Plateau
State, an agency under the Ministry of Mines and Steel
Development has created a data bank required by investors in
the Iron and Steel industry.
The Minister explained
that with the establishment of the data bank, there would no
longer be any need to embark on costly tests abroad for
feasibly studies on Iron and Steel projects.
Chief Isola also disclosed
that the Agency has made substantial progress in the
production of coking coal from local deposits for Nigeria’s
Steel industry’ thereby reducing importation bills on coking
coal.
In order to address the
challenge of capacity building in the Metals Sector, Chief
Isola disclosed that two bills, one for the Metallurgical
Training Institute, Onitsha, Anambra State, and another one
to transform the erstwhile School of Mines, in Jos, Plateau
State in the National Institute of Mining and Geosciences
have been forwarded to the office of the Minister of Justice
and Attorney – General of the Federation for vetting before
their consideration by the Federal Executive council.
The Minister of State for
Mines and Steel Development, Alhaji Ahmed Mohammed Gusau
said that the erstwhile administration decided to privatise
the Iron and Steel Sector believing that the private sector
could run the industry more profitably.
However, the Minister
noted that in the light of recent development as a result of
privatisation of the sector which eventually led to the
cancellation of the contractual agreement between the
Federal Government and Global Infrastructure Holdings
Nigeria Limited on Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and the
National Iron Ore Mining Company, Itakpe both in Kogi State,
it has become obvious that government’s faith in the private
sector to rescue the industry has been largely unfulfilled.
Alhaji Gusau said that
development has made it necessary to engage all Stakeholders
in the search for a viable option of moving the Iron and
Steel Industry forward.
He added that the Summit
was a direct response to Nigeria’s yearnings for the
revitalisation of the Iron and Steel Sector.
According to Gusau, the
objectives of the Summit were: To discuss with the
Stakeholders on the way forward in the nation’s Steel
Sector; obtain inputs for the development of metals
regulations; collate views and opinions on Ajaokuta Steel
Company Limited and the National Iron - Ore Mining Company;
establish a culture of dialogue between Government and Steel
Companies in Nigeria; secure the buy-in of Stakeholders on
the activities of the Ministry’s Iron and Steel Research
Agencies; generate information for the development of Data
Bank on Metals and develop a roadmap for Nigeria’s Iron and
Steel development before year 2020.
The participants of the
Summit were drawn from Banks and financial institutions,
Federal and State Government Agencies, local and foreign
investors, Professional and other Stakeholders.
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