Leadership (Abuja)
Philip Nyam and Adesuwa Tsan
30 October 2009
Abuja — The House of Representatives Thursday resolved to investigate the Interim Management Committee of Ajaokuta Steel Company and the National Iron Ore Mining Company, Itakpe over what it described as 'massive looting' of equipment at both companies.
It has also revealed that the federal government would require about $500 million for the completion of the steel complex and another $380 million for the provision of infrastructure such as rail lines and roads.
The House had at yesterday's plenary upon a motion sponsored by its committee chairman on steel, Hon. Aminu Shehu Shagari alerting the parliament of large scale looting at the steel complex condemned the looting and resolved to investigate the Interim Management Committee of the companies on why it has failed to prevent the mass looting of the properties under its custody.
It subsequently directed the Inspector General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo to tighten up security at both companies as part of measures to put a stop to alleged looting of assets.
In adopting the resolutions contained in a motion, the lawmakers urged the Federal Government of Nigeria to abide by an earlier directive of the House to complete and commission the project without further delay.
Shagari had in his lead debate informed the House that the original contractors that built the Ajaokuta Steel Company, PTE Russia have told the Federal Government that $500 million would be required to complete work on the industrial complex while $380 million would be needed for the provision of supportive infrastructure such as roads, rail lines and electricity.
He noted that the steel company has the potential of facilitating the goal of the Federal Government to make Nigeria one of the 20 most developed countries in the world in the year 2020 because steel production is the bedrock of industrialisation and economic development of any country.
Shagari added that when functional, the company could provide employment for as many as 20-30,000 people as well as develop smaller companies in the country.
He however lamented that though the Federal Government has expended over $4.6 billion on the steel company, there are inadequate measures to protect the investment as there is massive looting of properties in the complex which is already 98 percent complete.
The chairman said the looting was triggered "because of rumours that the place is going to be privatized so everybody was helping themselves to what they could find".
Advising the executive to fast track work in the company, he added that if the resources being committed to providing railway from Abuja to Kaduna had been utilised in the company, there would have been production going on presently in the complex that could have generated money for that project.
Speaking on the motion, he said, "The money needed to complete the complex is less than what the Federal Government has signed for the construction of railway from Abuja to Kaduna . If we had used that money to continue construction, it would have been completed by now".
In his contribution, the leader of the minorities, Hon Mohammed Ali Ndume who concurred with the submission of the sponsor of the motion recounted his experience when he went on assessment of the complex. He stated that the locals in the area had confronted him on why nothing was being done to stop the looting in the area.
The representative of the constituency where the project is located, Hon Mohammed Sadiq suggested that the indigenes be retained to watch over the property. He explained that because work has been on hold in the place for years, the area has now become a location for crime such as stealing.
Hon Saadatu Sani concluded that all hands must be on deck to ensure that the pillaging stops as according to her, "we cannot afford to spend money and the money will be looted by people that we don't even know".
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Ajaokuta steel project is one more example of a nation in crises of leadership. Not only that it was a conduit for Nigerian executives in it to bleed the nation, it also sucked the nation like a vampire bird. Ultimately the nation went bankrupt under structural adjustment ( another name for nation under western receivership) Chairman Paul Unongo and his team led us into darkness for a project with potential for economic advancement .
Recently here in Toronto , I met an Indian lady who told me she was coming from Abuja , Nigera, she told me this when I introduced myself as Nigerian . What is your mission in Nigeria , I asked her. She told me she was there with her father and some Indian investors who were negotiating to buy the troubled steel industry. Although for me that was a shocking story but I held on to tell her the story of Ajaokuta. But that was already an old story to the Indian investors, infact Indians know more about Nigeria than Nigerians .
According to her , every almost everything have been agreed upon, the ony contending issue was : "Continual Payment of salary for the work force" Ajaokuta is a closed industry , no longer functional for many years , what do you mean by payment of salaries ? I questioned . She told me the investors were unwilling to inherit that portion in the deal. What that mean is that Ajaokuta is still paying some ghost salaries according to this lady who was a member of the Indian investors.
Remember when Nigeria contracted the operation of the Nigerian Railway coporation to an Indian consortium ? That was the begining of the death of that major national corporation. Today most countries are investing heavily on infrastructure and education . Nigeria has myriad of problems which range from Religion to Ethincity. People who have no idea of National goals are priviledged to occupy sensitive positions . You can see most of that in National Petroleum corporation etc. they impede progress, they drag the nation down to the pit .Without adequate investment in education and infrastructure we're going no where . Loothing at Ajaokuta is only part of a system with hopeless security and law enforcement . They're all part of leadership crises.