Mr. President, save Ajaokuta and Itakpe now!
As the Congress and indeed, the entire nation, pray for the success of your administration, we humbly draw Your Excellency’s attention to the wanton removal of vital equipment and tools and theft of industrial explosives in both Ajasteel and NIOMCO respectively and other administrative issues. We are very much convinced that should the issues be […]
As the Congress and indeed, the entire nation, pray for the success of your administration, we humbly draw Your Excellency’s attention to the wanton removal of vital equipment and tools and theft of industrial explosives in both Ajasteel and NIOMCO respectively and other administrative issues. We are very much convinced that should the issues be allowed to linger unaddressed, they could obstruct the realization of the good intention of government demonstrated recently through the release of the aforesaid fund to make operationals some units in the giant iron and steel companies.
1.0 The Case of Ajaokuta Steel Company:
Questionable removal of vital equipment from Ajasteel: Your Excellency may wish to know that several equipment and items, some of them spare-parts of over two hundred (200) tonnes, for servicing some machines of the Ajasteel Company as well as three ware houses, were allegedly removed by a Nigerian construction firm – MAK CONSTRUCTION Company. After a careful scrutiny of photocopies of the document allegedly approving the removal of the vital items and equipment, we found that:
1.1 There is obvious discrepancy in the date of the letter of approval addressed to the Interim Management Committee (IMC) and the date of inauguration of the IMC: the approval letter dated 30th January, 2008 whereas the IMC was inaugurated on 10th April, 2008.
1.2 The long time (interregnum) between the time that the Russian company, TPE, purportedly sold the items to MAK CONSTRUCTION coy (1994) and the time they started removing the items (2009) remains questionable.
1.3 The magnitude of the so-called scraps approved by the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, as indicated in the ‘Appendices’ attached to the letter of approval, to us at the youth Congress, is also questionable.
1.4 The quick removal of the equipment and vital industrial items before the commencement of the technical audit of the company left more questions than answers; and
1.5 The refusal and subsequent resort of the IMC to mobilizing some elders of Ebiraland to appeal to the Congress instead of engaging the leadership in constructive dialogue, which we requested in writing, also raised serious concerns.
2.0 The Case of NIOMCO, Itakpe:
2.1 Theft of Vital Industrial Welding Machine and cartons of very High Explosives: Probably in an attempt to comply with the Federal Government’s policy to out-source the jobs of security and drivers, the IMC was said to have engaged the services of a security outfit. However, we are seriously worried that since the development, reports have indicated that a vital industrial welding machine has been dismantled and removed from the premises of the company by yet to be identified persons. The most worrisome aspect of the incidents of removal of vital items is the recent ‘disappearance’ of high explosives from the glare of the security outfit. As we write, Your Excellency, the IMC is yet to solve this problem.
2.2 IMC Interference in Union matters: We have been trying to resolve amicably, a crisis of confidence between two groups of union leaders of the Iron and Steel Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ISSSAN) in the company. In the course of our investigations into the face-off, the IMC was incriminated / indicted – it was alleged that the IMC is covertly sustaining the crisis to divert attention from alleged illegal activities it has engaged itself. The EYC views very as vey disturbing and unhealthy for harmonious/peaceful management-staff industrial relationship.
In the light of the foregoing, Your Excellency, the EYC pleads for your dispassionate consideration of the following suggestions to address the issues raised on Ajasteel and Niomco.
Termination of the appointment of the IMC: This is necessary because the continued expenditure of over eight million naira (N8,000,000.00) monthly on the 16-member IMC by the FG, in spite of the existence of both companies’ experienced administrative management staff, cannot be said to be financially auspicious at this critical time of the nation’s economic history. By implication, chief executive officers should be appointed for each company as the case may be.
Government needs to institute a panel of inquiry into the alleged sale of “scraps” by the initial handlers of Ajasteel, Tyazhpromexport (TPE), to the MAK CONSTRUCTION Company, Nig. Ltd which led to the recent dismantling of a wide variety of equipment by the company.
Government needs institute a panel of inquiry into the theft of vital company assets and high explosives allegedly numbering one hundred and twenty cartons from the NIOMCO, Itakpe, and the dismantling of heavy/industrial welding machines from the same company under the IMC employed security outfit.
Government needs to prosecute anyone who is eventually found guilty of the above offences, irrespective of his position.
We humbly anticipate your urgent intervention into the matter to save both companies from avoidable decay and to also save the FG from sinking hard-earned resources into the drain through carefully orchestrated malevolence of a few unpatriotic Nigerians.
Ogirima is President-General of EYC