China to set up military hardware capabilities in Ajaokuta, says minister of steel

The Federal Government has said the Chinese government would establish military hardware capabilities in the Ajaokuta axis of Kogi state.

The Minister of Steel and Development, Shuaibu Audu, said this on Thursday when speaking with State House reporters after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

“We are setting up a military hardware capacity and capability in Ajaokuta steel plant and based on that the Chinese team would help us to build that military hardware capabilities in Ajaokuta, in one of the production units,” he said.

Audu, who disclosed that he and the Minister of Defense Abubakar Baduru had visited China from January 1 to January 8, said they had a meeting with a leading Chinese steel manufacturer Lu’an Steel Holding Group, which had committed to building a new steel mill in Nigeria.

According to the minister, the billion-dollar investment partnership would help create jobs for Nigerians and bring in foreign direct investments.

“We were in China on the 1st of January 2024. We were there till the 8th of January. And met with the Lu’an Steel Holding Group, which is one of the largest steel companies in China, and is among the top 20 steel companies in China.

“They produce about 20 million metric tons of steel per annum We had very meaningful discussions with them, the Minister of Defense and I, and they agreed and made a commitment to set up a new steel
plant in Nigeria, where thousands of jobs would be created, and they would invest billions of dollars in foreign direct investments into Nigeria,” he said.

He said the president has issued an approval for the ministry to raise money independently for funding for the revival and reconstruction of the Ajaokuta Steel Plant in Kogi state.

According to him, for Ajaokuta Steel Plant, to be operational, it will cost between $2 million to $5 million. However, he disclosed that restarting the living steel section of the mill is going to cost us about N35 billion.

“The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has already written a letter to me through his ministry, guaranteeing that they will be off-takers in the iron rods that are being produced.

“Basically, the president under the Renewed Hope Agenda, which the minister of works is driving plans to construct about 30,000 kilometres of roads across Nigeria, where they will need about seven million metric tons of iron road.

“We can produce about 400,000 tons of those iron rods in Ajaokuta if we’re able to restart the steel plant.

“Mr President gave approval for us to raise money locally. The first phase of the project. For Ajaokuta Steel Plant, to revive the entire steel plant will cost somewhere between $2 to $5 million and however, to restart the living steel section of the mill is going to cost us about N35 billion.

“So we’re going to the market to show proof of consent to raise this money from local financial institutions to be able to restart that.”