Group makes case for Ajaokuta steel company

IRON and Steel Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ISSSAN) has urged the Federal Government to do all it could to ensure that the Ajaokuta Steel Company operates in full capacity.

 The National President of  ISSSAN, Mr Otori Maliki said in Lagos that the steel company when fully operational could create employment for about 500,000 people.

  Mr Maliki said that government should also ensure that necessary and functional infrastructure that would enhance its operation should be put in place.

  According to the President, the down-stream sector would spring up opportunities that can engage about 500,000 people which would reduce the number of those in the labour market.

  He said that if the rail line from Ajaokuta to Warri was not completed, it would not be able to justify the effort put in to revive the company.

  He said that the company could not easily use the roads to transport goods because it would be cumbersome.

  He said that the company which presently produces scraps would begin full production as soon as infrastructure was put in place.

  Speaking further, Mr Maliki added that private steel companies were supposed to get their raw materials from Ajaokuta steel if it was in full production.

  ``Companies that produce nails and wire rods are supposed to get their raw materials from Ajaokuta steel. Ajaokuta is a steel complex because you can start a process there and end it.”

  ``At Ajaokuta, there is the bromes and billets which can be turned into several shapes to be able to produce nails,'' he said.

  Maliki said that when the government reversed the sale of Ajaokuta in 2008, Global Infrastructure Ltd, those who bought the company went to court but nothing came out of the issue.

  The former president Goodluck Jonathan later settled the issue and the workers were paid of their entitlement according to the civil service structure,'' he said.