An aspirant for the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship ticket for Kogi State, Dr. Habeeb Yaqeen has proffered some suggestions for the revamping of Ajaokuta Steel Mill which he believed will help develop the state and provide employment.
The Kogi State governorship election has been slated for November by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Yaqeen, a former banker revealed that he has already outlined three action plans for the resuscitation of the steel mill which he hopes to employ as a mechanism to drive the effort.
Addressing some journalists Wednesday in Abuja, he said if he eventually become the next Kogi governor, he will take the necessary steps to actualise his dream of seeing that the Ajaokuta Steel Mill is brought to life.
He said: “Like I told you, we need about N200 billion to revive Ajaokuta. We can work with the Federal Government and go to the Debt Management Office (DMO) and raise that fund through the DMO.
“They will raise bond, and that bond, people all over the country and abroad will buy into it and that fund will be readily available within a short time. You do the revamping, that place can pay it.”.
Alternatively, he stated that another way to revamp Ajaokuta is to go to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and seek for an intervention fund.
He said the bank can put up the fund as according to him they put N200 billion for agriculture as an intervention.
“You can get an intervention fund purely for Ajaokuta to revamp it. The other one is that I have met with people outside the country who are leading steel industries owners in the world and they are ready to come and take it over and run it.
“So once you put up these three, all you need is to work closely with the Federal Government and say, Federal Government, these are the benefits for Nigeria, benefit for my state, benefit for every body. These are the three options, let us pick the one that is the best,”he added.
He said the problem with the previous efforts to revive the Ajaokuta Steel Mill is the lack of patriotism and the political will to execute the projects.
“What went wrong is just about personal interests above the national interests. If you go back to what happened in the last dispensation when it was given out, then you will just get what I was saying. What were they doing at that time? What they did at that time, was it in the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians? The answer is no and that is why it was cancelled,”he added.
Yaqeen, a former banker revealed that he has already outlined three action plans for the resuscitation of the steel mill which he hopes to employ as a mechanism to drive the effort.
Addressing some journalists Wednesday in Abuja, he said if he eventually become the next Kogi governor, he will take the necessary steps to actualise his dream of seeing that the Ajaokuta Steel Mill is brought to life.
He said: “Like I told you, we need about N200 billion to revive Ajaokuta. We can work with the Federal Government and go to the Debt Management Office (DMO) and raise that fund through the DMO.
“They will raise bond, and that bond, people all over the country and abroad will buy into it and that fund will be readily available within a short time. You do the revamping, that place can pay it.”.
Alternatively, he stated that another way to revamp Ajaokuta is to go to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and seek for an intervention fund.
He said the bank can put up the fund as according to him they put N200 billion for agriculture as an intervention.
“You can get an intervention fund purely for Ajaokuta to revamp it. The other one is that I have met with people outside the country who are leading steel industries owners in the world and they are ready to come and take it over and run it.
“So once you put up these three, all you need is to work closely with the Federal Government and say, Federal Government, these are the benefits for Nigeria, benefit for my state, benefit for every body. These are the three options, let us pick the one that is the best,”he added.
He said the problem with the previous efforts to revive the Ajaokuta Steel Mill is the lack of patriotism and the political will to execute the projects.
“What went wrong is just about personal interests above the national interests. If you go back to what happened in the last dispensation when it was given out, then you will just get what I was saying. What were they doing at that time? What they did at that time, was it in the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians? The answer is no and that is why it was cancelled,”he added.
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