From Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
The Federal Government has assured Nigerians that the National Iron and Ore Company, NIOMCO, would come alive after 40 years.
The Minister of Steel Development, Shuaibu Audu, gave this assurance on Friday when he visited the multi-million dollar iron ore complex in Itakpe, Kogi State.
Audu said that the project, which has been lying in waste, is a priority of the Bola Tinubu administration under the Renewed Hope Agenda, and vowed to make it work under his tenure.
His words: “The President by making me the pioneer Minister of the Ministry of Steel Development certain things have to be done to initiate steel production in Nigeria such as trying to revive the Ajaokuta Steel Company and the Itakpe Iron Ore Mining Company. These are multi-billion dollar plants we have in Kogi State for the benefit of Nigerians.”
Meanwhile, the Minister recalled that the President promised rolling out thousands of CNG buses that would be powered by gas and distributed to Nigerian workers in both the private and public sectors.
He said in the Ministry’s 2024 budget, a recommendation for production of the gas cylinders will be made in order for them to be produced in Ajaokuta.
“What I have seen in Ajaokuta particularly as well as in the iron ore company, components of gas cylinders for the CNG plant can be made here in Itakpe.
Itakpe has a significant role to play in the economic agenda of the President.
“We are going to write a budget and the budget that will be hopefully approved by the National Assembly and ultimately signed by Mr President would have a provision to upgrade some of the plants in Itakpe to enable production of the gas cylinder components for the CNG buses,” he said.
Earlier in his remarks the Sole Administrator of NIOMCO, Augustus Nkechika stated that Ajaokuta could not be relevant in the steel market without NIOMCO.
Nkechika added that infrastructure and technology of the company must be up to date for the Ajaokuta plant to be resuscitated.
He said: “The National Iron Ore Mining Company, Itakpe, has been a cornerstone of our steel production, and it is imperative that we ensure its infrastructure and technology are up to date. A technical audit will help us identify areas for rehabilitation and improvement to optimize processes, and ensure that we remain competitive in the global steel market.