The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Steel Development, Abdullahi Halims, has revealed that the moribund Ajaokuta Steel Company and other steel companies across the country will resume operations within the next four years.
Other companies to resume operations, according to Halims include the Aladja Steel Company and Katsina Steel Rolling Mills.
The lawmaker made this known during a chat with journalists in Abuja.
He said, “At the end of four years, I want to tell you by the grace of God, we will see the Ajaokuta Steel Company working very well. We will see the Aladja Steel Rolling Mills, we will see the Katsina Steel rolling out mills and the entire steel sector making gains out of production.”
Halims lamented that the steel industry had become moribund despite being established to drive the industrial sector of the economy.
He listed outdated laws as one of the main factors that were frustrating the development of the sector, consequently frustrating Nigeria from achieving its target of becoming one of the world’s biggest economies by 2020.
Halims stated that a functional steel industry enables job creation which can guarantee economic growth for future generations.
