CURRENT STATE OF AJAOKUTA STEEL COMPANY- By SOKOYA OLAOLU PETER
No Nigerian can visit Ajaokuta Steel Company ASC, see investments of more than $8b rotting in the African sun and not cry. I went there, I cried. what exactly is the problem? I have written severally on this topic, but today let me do a comprehensive post.
Ajaokuta Steel is massive, 68km road network, 24 housing estates. Some of the estates have over 1,000 homes, a seaport, a 110mw power generation plant. There are 43 separate plants in Ajaokuta alone. It is estimated that if Ajaokuta becomes operational, it will create 500,000 jobs.
There is no industrialized nation on earth that does not have a steel sector, it’s that simple. The Central Bank of Nigeria reports that Nigeria currently imports steel, aluminum products and associated derivatives of approximately 25 metric tonnes per annum estimated at $4.5bn