If the federal government indeed the resuscitated the ailing and dormant $4.5 billion Ajaokuta steel complex by handing the edifice to private operator, this might be the beginning of the industrial revolution that we all craved. Mr. Kayode Fayemi, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development gave this indication.
Construction of Ajaokuta, which lies on the Niger River and was supposed to have an installed capacity of 5 million metric tons of steel a year, began in 1979. Work was delayed by the government’s failure to pay the builders, Russia’s Tyazhpromexport, on schedule. By 2004, when it was taken over by India’s Ispat Industries Ltd., it was yet to produce any steel. Ispat’s concession was revoked in 2008 and Nigeria is yet to resolve all outstanding legal issues, Fayemi said.
“Ajaokuta steel mill is one of the major issues I have put on the table,” Fayemi said in an interview in Cape Town on Monday. “Under my watch” it will be revived, he said.
In addition to steel, Fayemi said the government aims to improve the implementation of mining laws, make available better data on the country’s deposits and act to regulate informal mining. Because of the global rout in commodity prices, Fayemi doesn’t expect significant investment soon.
“The sector has been comatose for some time,” he said. “We will be ready for the next boom.” Initially the focus will be on industrial minerals for domestic consumption, he said. Limestone for cement production, iron ore for steel, bitumen for asphalt, barium for oil drilling and lead and zinc will be focused on, he said.
