Should FG sell-off Ajaokuta?

The Federal Government’s plan to privatise Ajaokuta Steel Company has raised a lot of concern from different quarters. Daily Trust sought the opinions of some Nigerians.   Mrs. Rabi Umar Sodangi, 59, Civil Servant, Kaduna No, FG should not sell off Ajaokuta. It should maintain at least 51 per cent equity. Steel is the major […]

The Federal Government’s plan to privatise Ajaokuta Steel Company has raised a lot of concern from different quarters. Daily Trust sought the opinions of some Nigerians.

 

Mrs. Rabi Umar Sodangi, 59, Civil Servant, Kaduna

No, FG should not sell off Ajaokuta. It should maintain at least 51 per cent equity. Steel is the major material for all manufacturing activities, hence the backbone for industrialization and national economic development. Steel has a multiplier effect in the development and sustenance of other industries including agriculture, health, military wares and virtually every other sector of the economy. It cannot be left completely in the hands of investors. Government must have some control. The greatness of a nation depends on how its resources are planned, managed and utilized.

 

Dr. John Alabi, 55, Lecturer, Kogi

Outright sale of Ajaokuta is not a viable option. I am totally not in support of that for three reasons: number one, the steel sector is the bedrock for national development and strategic purposes. A nation should own it, if not fully, part of it. You can’t jettison your industrial development and leave the epicentre, which is the steel sector to another nation. That would amount to mortgaging our future. The second reason is that given the level of investments that had been put into the Ajaokuta Steel Company, I think it would be unwise for the government to just wake up suddenly and say the company should be sold off. I think it is unwise. The third reason is that for any sector, be it aviation, agriculture or steel, to thrive, what is required is a transparent public-private partnership that works. When you have a committed and transparent partner, of course it will work. I’m not for outright sale of Ajaokuta. I’m for a viable public-private partnership. If it means going back to Russia to get those that built the company involved, that’s fine. Let’s leverage the Russians and other emerging economies that are into steel production.

 

Tom Odemwingie, 63, Development Communication expert, Abuja

Government should sell Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited, but not as scrap. Government should negotiate with the Soviet/Russian Company that built it for prospects revitalization with private sector participation. But this must be through a transparent process in order to get the best possible business deal for the people of Nigeria. The emerging management paradigm, which must not be subject to government’s control, must include utilization of the infrastructure built around the company, including the standard gauge railway from the iron mines at Itakpe to the steel mill at Ajaokuta and continuing to the Atlantic Ocean at Warri which China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, which completed the Abuja-Kaduna Standard Gauge Railway, has been engaged to repair for operation.

 

 

Ms. Charity Paul, 34, Businesswoman, Kigo Road, Kaduna

Going by the previous sales of government assets in the country, there has not been any impact from such sales hence, I do not support the sale of the Ajaokuta Steel coy by FG. We should still maintain ownership of the coy and put a better management in place.

 

Muhammad Sani Dutsinma, 49, Businessman, Kaduna

Certainly, government has no business in business. The only caveat here being that the process of privatising the company be devoid of past practice of selling off national assets to family and friends with no financial and technical competence required in turning around the company.

Government firms that were sold in accordance with international best practice have recorded great success, like the Benue cement company (BCC) which the Dangote group has turned around into a world class cement company. The shabby privatization of PHCN has plunged the power sector i to a big mess. The watchword is transparency in the proces