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Legal practitioner wants Ajaokuta Steel revived

Lawyer and social reformer, Natasha Akpoti, has commended the move by Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello to revive the ailing Ajaokuta Steel Company.

Ajaokuta plant

Lawyer and social reformer, Natasha Akpoti, has commended the move by Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello to revive the ailing Ajaokuta Steel Company.
She also dismissed insinuations of being sponsored by some individuals in the country, saying that her advocacy was out of the need to revive the firm.

Akpoti in a statement, disagreed with the thinking in some quarters that her recent friendship with Governor Bello was for her own selfish purposes.
“In the past months, there has been some relationships forged between the Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello and myself. Clearly, we are collaborating towards an accelerated resuscitation of Ajaokuta Steel Company amongst others.

“This alliance will no way overturn or tamper with our code of ethics and societal ethos which has laid the foundation upon which we seek economic justice for Ajaokuta Steel Company and her captive mine – National Iron Ore Company, Itakpe both in Kogi State”.

According to her, the involvement of the Kogi State Government in the alleged lopsided attempted acquisition of the steel complex via a vehicle registered as Ajaokuta Kogi Nigeria Limited as exposed during the March 1, 2018 presentation before the House of Representatives was all true.

“Whether such actions were taken with the full knowledge of Governor Yahaya Bello or not or in the best interest of the state and country or not shall be decided in the course of the House of Reps investigation which began on Monday.

Akpoti explained that in the case of Ajaokuta Steel Company, there was no cause for alarm as the company was on a path of revival.

“On the brighter side, Ajaokuta Steel Company is on a sure path of revival because the much needed political will is being stimulated across the tiers of government. I, alongside the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), African Iron and Steel Association (AISA) and a host of other professional stakeholders are working with the National Assembly to create a set of laws to establish a responsive and protective ecosystem for the steel sector.

“We are also advocating the establishments of a Steel Development. The rationale behind this is to promote the separation of powers which are presently mumbled up in the Ministry of Solid minerals.

“In essence, the Steel authority shall oversee the operations and productivity of the steel sector; while the ministry shall serve as regulators for pricing, policy formulations and others. With all the right collaborations being set in place, however late, I have no doubt the resuscitation of Ajaokuta’s steel complex for the good of Nigeria will be a dream come true”.
Akpoti explained that she decided to forge a healthy alliance to promote an accelerated resuscitation of Ajaokuta Steel company along agreed common grounds.

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