This was the fallout of the visit by a delegation of the
Minister of Steel Development, Shuaibu Audu; the Minister of Defence, Mohammed
Badaru, and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Steel Development, Mary
Ogbe, during a tour of Luan Steel Holding Group in Hefei and Guangzhou Regions
of China.
Government said the collaboration with financial
institutions was to seek the best financing options to re-start the light Steel
Mill in Ajaokuta and kick-start iron rod production.
The Minister of Steel Development, Shuaibu Audu, in a
statement signed by the ministry’s Head of Press and Public Relations, Salamatu
Jibaniya, said the trip to China was one of the steps being taken to realise
the goal of reviving the steel industry in Nigeria, in line with the vision of
the current administration.
According to him, work has commenced to create an
operational steel industry that will attract billions of dollars of foreign
direct investments into the country, open up the nation’s economy and create
hundreds of thousands of job opportunities.
He noted that the plan to construct military hardware in the
Ajaokuta steel plant would help in the fight against insecurity and terrorism.
“We had very meaningful discussions with the Chairman of
Luan Steel Holding Group, Mr Wang Jianbing, the Chief Executive Officer of the
Company, Mr Xiao Weizhan, and other senior Executives of the Luan Steel Holding
Group.
“Like several other international and local investors, Luan
Steel Holding Group has indicated interest in setting up a new Steel Plant in
Nigeria, as well as handling a component of the Ajaokuta Steel Plant for
building military hardwares in Nigeria.