Borderless

Ajaokuta & co: Nigeria’s missed opportunities

A Kogi State High Court on Thursday reiterated its earlier position restraining the Attorney-General of the Federation and five others from proceeding with the planned concession of Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL) and the National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO). The ruling was against the background of the Federal Executive Council’s approval for the engagement of transaction advisors for the concession of Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and the National Iron Ore Mining Complex in Itakpe, Kogi State.

The story of Ajaokuta Steel Company leaves a bad taste in the mouth as it speaks of Nigeria’s propensity for profligacy.

The conception of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex in 1979 was hinged on two factors. The first was the understanding that the nation’s hope of industrialisation would be a mirage without a functional steel industry. The second was to make Nigeria one of the leading steel producing countries in the world and position it to earn revenue from it. So, the government of General Olusegun Obasanjo pursued the project with gusto and scheduled it for completion in 1986 at the cost of $650million. But 37 years after, and with over $5billion spent, the steel complex lies prostrate, though at a point it reached 99 per cent completion.

Embedded in the project is a thermal power plant with the capacity to generate 110 megawatts of electricity. But with the abandonment of the main project, the fate of the plant was already decided.

So, the non-completion of the Ajaokuta project did not only rob the country of the realisation of the industrialisation envisioned in 1979, and the expected revenue generation, it also denied the people of regular electricity supply. But beyond that, the neglect of the project has also been responsible for the depletion of our commonwealth as an estimated N4trillion was spent on the importation of steel between 1986 and 2020.

As saddening as these are, more depressing is the fact that the Russian company, which initially got the contract, TyajzPromExport (TPE), completed similar projects on schedule for many countries including China, South Korea and Brazil. So, the fault was not that of the company but ours.

But why should our leaders bother about the loss of additional revenue that the completion of the project would have meant since money flows ceaselessly from oil? With oil money readily available, who needs a steel project?

Also in 1979, the Federal Government, through the Ogun-Oshun River Basin Authority, established the Ikere Gorge Dam in Iseyin area of Oyo State to accomplish four things. One, generate 700 megawatts of electricity, two; supply potable water to Oke Ogun area of Oyo State, three; assist the farming population of the area with irrigation and four; create an environment for fishing business. The last two were meant to diversify the nation’s revenue sources.

Despite the humongous sums expended on construction and procurement, 43 years after, the project is a shadow of the dream that birthed it. Not a single watt of electricity has been generated by the dam, which covers 47 kilometres and is said to be the fourth largest in Africa, despite the acquisition of everything needed for it. At Ikere, the turbines which should have been generating electricity have been turned into local silos for conserving grains. Other associated activities are only carried out skeletally.

But nobody is raising any eyebrow over the waste since money from crude oil sales comes in regularly.

At Owode area of Ibadan, there is an expanse of land that runs into tens of acres. It was acquired by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the purpose of constructing a staff quarters. Known as CBN Housing Estate, tens of completed buildings contained therein have been abandoned for almost 20 years. It is said that the CBN embarked on erecting the multibillion naira estate to ease the housing problem of its staff but that after its completion, the staff shunned it because of the monetisation policy of the Obasanjo administration. The most galling part of the whole scenario is that the leadership of the apex bank had completely forgotten about the project. It took a publication by the Nigerian Tribune for the apex bank leaders to remember they had an abandoned housing estate in Ibadan. Shortly after the publication, the leadership scurried to Ibadan to inspect the estate and made a promise to revamp it. But since then, over 10 years ago, nothing has happened to change the narrative. Now, the money put into the estate appears lost as exposure to the elements over the years has weakened the structures.

But why should the CBN worry about losing a few billions of Naira since it has more money than it needs?

The problem with the CBN is not different from that with the nation; we are endowed beyond our capacity to manage. And a mismatch between endowment and capacity never fails to result in frustration. The mismanagement of the nation’s abundant resources has resulted in Nigeria, which is one of the most endowed countries in the world, emerging one of the poorest. How sad!

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Re: Buhari vs Ortom: Minions in high places

By your write-up, titled as above in your column in Sunday Tribune of 23rd April 2023, one cannot but wonder about your stance on the issue. First of all, you would agree that the matter between Buhari, nay Presidency or Federal government, and Ortom, Benue State governor, was a duel between an elephant and a dog, speaking figuratively.

Indeed, if you had followed the scenario dispassionately, you would have seen that Ortom was fighting, tooth and nail (like an ensnared dog) for the cause of his people. It should be noted that before he resorted to legislation against open grazing, he had made a number of entreaties to the Federal Government for amicable solution to the problem at hand; but to no avail! So, what blame do you put on him for efforts to protect the interest of his people?

If you look further, you would see that the unprovoked killings of Benue people by supposed herdsmen was not because of the anti-open grazing law per se: there was more to it than meets the eye! If you disagree with that assertion, you saw what happened in neighbouring Plateau State and southern part of Kaduna State? You will note that similar killings by supposed herdsmen took place in those two other states also, even when their governors did not confront the Federal Government on the issue.

Accordingly, it will be unfair to lay the same blame on the two combatants, as you inferred in your statements.