The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) on Tuesday reconstituted a 10-man National Steel Council in Abuja to be deciding the way forward to achieving the goal of self-sufficiency in steel production for the country’s iron and steel sector.
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc Olamilekan Adegbite, at the inauguration reiterated the importance of such a feat as he stressed that the steel industry remains the backbone of modern society.
“The steel industry serves as a key enabler in the economy by providing the basic raw materials for public infrastructure development projects and key sectors such as housing and real estate development, energy, automotive, defence, and various, small & medium enterprises engaged in downstream engineering and fabrication business.
“The sector has significant forward and backward linkages regarding material flow, employment, and income generation.
“Indeed Mr President is aware of this which is why he has approved the reconstitution of the National Steel Council,” the Minister said.
He explained that the National Steel Act clearly makes adequate provisions for the establishment of the National Steel council, which would be responsible for the central planning of the iron and steel industry.
“The Council shall consist of a chairman, executive secretary, four board members, and one representative drawn from the following Federal Ministries, which are Industry; Finance; Power, and Steel.”
Inaugurating the new council, Adegbite outlined a 9-point terms of reference ranging from: central planning for the steel industry; research and development for the industry; co-ordination of exploration for iron ore, cooking coal, limestone, dolomite, refractory clay and other minerals related to iron and steel production in collaboration with other relevant MDAs to assisting the steel plants in fixing the prices of their finished products and in purchasing raw materials required by them for steel production as well as such other functions considered necessary in carrying out their assignment.
He thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the reconstitution of the board and congratulated the members of the council chaired by Muhammad Murtala Aliyu.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, who also graced the event, even as her ministry already had a representative on the council, said she made effort to be on ground personally because of the importance the federal government attach to the steel sector.
Delivering the vote of thanks, the Permanent Secretary, Dr Oluwatoyin Akinlade, represented by the Director, Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining, Mr Patrick Ojeka, expressed optimism that the council would complement the efforts by the ministry, in ensuring that the development of the industry is in continuous progression, despite the hurdles that are being experienced.
Akinlade further disclosed that, as part of the council’s mandates, it would also be responsible for training of Nigerians in all aspects of the iron and steel industry and related fields; the deployment of senior Nigerian Management Staff and Trainees to steel plants and other sectors of the industry, especially for research into the development and manufacture of equipment to be used for the purpose of and in relation to-basic engineering in the steel industry.
“I say this, because, the function of this Council is designed to cover areas that will contribute to developing the relevant human capacity and necessary tools that will be needed to build up and sustain the Metallurgical and Steel Sector.
“It will interest you to know that to ensure effective functionality of this committee, its members were drawn from four pertinent federal Ministries; and from some of the government steel companies; and also from the private sector,” she said.