A destroyed refinery By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited( NNPCL) says it has destroyed 134 illegal refineries in the last few weeks. Also, the company said 63 illegal pipeline connections were uncovered during the the weeks . The corporation, In a visual report, stated that at about 2 am on Sunday, a joint team of security agents discovered a large wooden boat illicitly loading stolen crude oil from Barge AGS01 within the OML 18 operating area, noted intelligence report a large wooden wooden boat was caught receiving crude oil from the barge. According to the state-owned oil firm, while the barge was towed away with a tugboat in custody, five speedboats used in towing the large wooden boat to the illegal loading site were also detained and the particulars of the tugboats and barge used for the operation were reportedly seized for further investigation. It further said that two large boats, which involve
By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade
Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Mills will soon be revived, if all go according to plans, the Minister of Steel Development, Shuaibu Audi gave this indication at the 7th PEEF Annual Conference( PAC) in Abuja.
According to him, the Federal Government is currently expediting action to collaborate with financial agencies on how to revive the Ajaokuta Steel years after it privatisation failed to yield the desired result.
The conference with the theme:”Accelerating Steel Sector Development in Nigeria & Achieving Zero Corruption in Procurement Management” was well attended by the private sector operators and officials of the government.
Represented at the event by A. T. Umar,the Minister revealed that the funding of the Steel Companies in Nigeria became challenging which was what led to the privatization of the steel companies.
He said many of companies were unable to take off, despite privatisation, adding that Nigeria is at a stage where it’s rethinking whether to reverse the privatization of the steel sector in the country.
“During the President Buhari’s administration a lot of fund were invested on mining but the steel sector was neglected. As a government we need to produce steel from raw materials, this will bring economic prosperity to the nation. What the Minister is doing is to think outside the box in developing the Ajaokuta Steel.
“We want to collaborate with agencies, including financial agencies to see what we can do. We are working to develop the necessary manpower to man the sector,” he said.
Speaking,the Chairman, Board of Trustee (BoT), People Expertise and Excellent Foundation (PEEF) Engr.Abdullar Bukar advocated the need for the revival and expansion of the Ajaokuta Steel.
The development,he said,will bring about economic prosperity for Nigeria.
He said,there was need for a corruption free environment in the management of the nation’s investment in the steel sector.
He said,”Let us develop our country, so that we can process what we have and also sell finished products. Switzerland does not produce a single raw cocoa but they are the one who make the most money out of cocoa. They take raw materials that we produce, add value to it, they sell it at the price and we also go and buy”.
According to him,steel has the potential to generate N7billion annually for the country if properly harnessed.
He added:”Nigeria is exporting cement, it is also possible to export steel, therefore Ajaokuta should not only be revived but should be expanded.
“The most important part of it, is that we also need a corruption free environment to ensure efficient management of our investment on steel”
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