THE Federal Government has said it would stop the importation of steel products into Nigeria to encourage local investors in the mining sector.
Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Architect Olamilekan Adegbite, stated this during a familiarisation visit to Kam Industries Limited, a privately owned steel manufacturing industry in Ilorin, Kwara State.
He added that the government would stop the importation of steel materials into the country once it attained self-sufficiency in steel production.
The Minister said: “My ultimate aim is that we ban steel importation into the country totally, but before we do that, we must be able to satisfy local consumption from local production and have some excess for export, that is where we are heading.”
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Architect Adegbite, according to a statement signed by Mrs Idowu Jokpeyibo on behalf of Director of Press, and made available to newsmen in Abuja, stressed the need for local investors to invest in the country’s steel sector rather than foreigners to avoid capital flight.
He lamented that though the ministry was responsible for steel production and development in the country, it is not in control of the quality of steel that came into the country.
Earlier, the Chairman of Kam Industries, Mr Kamoru Yusuf said as the government continued to strive towards diversification of the economy, ”there is a need for government to pay more attention to the iron and steel sector for diverse economic benefits.”
He commended the Federal Government’s closure of the country`s land borders, saying, “this will make us look inward and realise ourselves as a nation, the closure of the country’s land borders should be replicated at our sea borders, the seaports are still porous and Nigeria markets are flooded with substandard steel products such as roofing sheets.”
Earlier, during the minister’s courtesy visit to the Kwara State Government House, the Deputy Governor, Mr Kayode Alabi, who received the Minister, appealed to the Federal Government to help identify mineral resources in the state and to ensure it exploration for national development.