The Federal Government is working to resuscitate the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and National Iron Ore Mining Company Limited at the same time, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Oluwatoyin Akinlade, has said.
Akinlade disclosed this when she paid a working visit to the two companies to ascertain their levels of preparedness ahead of the arrival of a team from Russia scheduled to technically audit the firms.
She said in a statement issued in Abuja by the Assistant Director, Press, Timothy Akpoili, that the Federal Government was committed to resuscitating both companies.
The permanent secretary said the ministry wants the two companies to begin full operations soon.
She was quoted as saying, “Ajaokuta is the future, the bedrock of Nigeria’s development. The resuscitation must be done, and can be done.”
Akinlade noted that Ajaokuta without NIOMCO was like a car without tyres, hence efforts were being made to resuscitate both companies at the same time to achieve the desired result.
The Tide recalls that in October 2019 in Sochi, Russia, President Muhammadu Buhari signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, to resuscitate and complete Ajaokuta Steel Company.
“One of the strategies in that process is the technical audit of the installed equipment,” the ministry said in its statement.
The Sole Administrator, NIOMCO, Nkechika Augustus, told the permanent secretary that the mandate of the company was to provide basic raw material for iron and steel production.
He said NIOMCO was required to supply Ajaokuta Steel with 2.15 million tonnes of iron ore concentrate with iron content of 63 to 64 per cent in its first phase of operation, during which the firm would be expected to produce 1.3 million tonnes of steel.