Funding, bureaucratic issues Stalling resuscitation of Ajaokuta’s — Senate

The Senate Committee on Solid Minerals, Mines, Steel Development, and Metallurgy is concerned that the Ajaokuta Steel Company has been “left in deep slumber” for several years.

Umar Tanko Al-Makura (APC, Nasarawa), the committee’s Chairman, told reporters yesterday that Ajaokuta would remain dormant without special funding for the solid mineral sector.

After submitting his panel’s report on the 2022 budget to the Appropriations Committee, the lawmaker spoke at the National Assembly in Abuja.

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He said the revamping of the project, which is seen as a major driver of the country’s industrialisation, had been stalled due to a lack of funds and certain bureaucratic bottlenecks.

He claimed that since the initiative to reactivate Ajaokuta Steel Company was put forward two years ago, the firm has received no meaningful budgetary allocation.

As a result, he called for a special fund for the sector and urged the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development to devote all of its energy and focus to the Ajaokuta project.

“We discovered that the much-desired growth in this sector might not be easy to achieve without very special allocation to this ministry,” Al-Makura said.

“The president sees solid minerals as one of the industries that will drive the diversification process. However, given the ministry’s meager budget, such wishes may be difficult to fulfill.

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“I implore the committee to consider ways and means of securing special funding for this ministry; otherwise, the things the ministry is expected to achieve may not be realized, especially when we consider the country’s concern and passion for one of the ministry’s sectors, Ajaokuta Steel Company.”