Don’t allow Ajaokuta Steel to rot away, activist begs FG

Appeal has been sent to the Federal Government not to allow Ajaokuta Steel, the giant steel industry situated in Kogi State, to rot away, as government has committed huge investment into the project.

Haruna Ahmed Osike, a human rights activist, made the appeal in Lokoja while interacting with newsmen on the need for the resuscitate the steel complex, adding that apart from over 5 billion dollars expended on the project, Ajaokuta steel plant has other valuable features that should not be allowed to waste or die.

“Nobody in this country that has the opportunity of visiting Ajaokuta Steel Company to see investments of more than $5 billion wasting, that would not cry.

“Many prominent Nigerians, including myself who visited the integrated plant, cried because of the moribund nature of the plant and the potentials that abound which the country could not utilise for the benefit of Nigerians,” Osike said.

According to him, “Ajaokuta Steel plant aside the 68 kilometers of road network, has 24 housing estates, some completed while many are uncompleted and abandoned in the bush

“Painfully, some of the estates have over 1,000 flats ranging from three to two bedrooms. The steel plant also has a seaport, a 110 megawatts power generation plant and 43 separate plants. It is estimated that if Ajaokuta becomes operational, it will create 500, 000 jobs, including subsidiary industries that will evolve.

“With all these efforts put in place by the Federal Government, how can such giant steel project be allowed to remain moribund for decades?”