FG to Ban Importation of Steel Products
The federal government yesterday said it has concluded plan to ensure a total ban on steel importation so as to assist the local steel manufacturers to develop, thereby boosting the Gross Domestic Product and the diversification of the nation’s economy.
The Minister of Steel and Mines, Mr. Olamilekan Adegbite, who stated this in Ilorin, Kwara State capital during an official visit to a local steel manufacturing industry, Kamwire Industry Limited, added that the gesture would also create more employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed youths in the country.
The minister, who explained that government was determined to stop importation of substandard steel products into Nigeria, noted that his ministry is “working with Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to address the issue.”
According to him, “The ministry is not in control of the quality of steel products that come into the country, though we’re responsible for steel productions.
“We’ll work with the concerned agency to control what comes in. The ultimate aim is to ban steel importation totally. But before we do that, we will ensure we’re able to satisfy local consumption from local production and still have excess to export. That’s where we’re heading.
“We welcome local industrialisation and local entrepreneurs. We want to encourage them. I can see depth of backward integration here, from raw material to finished product. This is an example of what Nigeria should do. If you do this you can imagine this complex providing over 4,000 employment opportunities. If we have replication of this all over the country, it will reduce rate of restiveness and banditry we have today.”
Adegbite expressed the determination of the federal government to effectively harness the mining sector and commended Kamwire for the steps taken so far to develop the sector.
The minister, who argued that local investors are better than foreign investors, explained that the local investors would engage the local people and at the end of the day would not take their profit out of the state.