It is sad that folks are retweeting the drool by Dogara like it is news!
Ajaokuta is a Local Government Area in Kogi State, Nigeria and a town within it on the left bank of the Niger River. The headquarters of the LGA are in the town of Egayin in the south of the area. It has an area of 1,362 km² and a population of 122,321 at the 2006 census. As of 2008 Ajaokuta, the town, had an estimated population of 16,039.
The town is the home of the multibillion-dollar Ajaokuta Steel Mill, the largest steel mill in Nigeria. Begun by the Soviet Union in 1979 under a cooperation agreement with Nigeria, the complex reached 98% completion by 1994 (15 years after)! The steelworks have been called the “bedrock of Nigeria’s industrialisatio ”. However, the project has been mismanaged, and the steel mill has not produced a single sheet of steel as of December 2017!
Ajaokuta and Itakpe are elephant projects; single track rail lines leading to nowhere. Whoever is selling the dummy about diesel fired station at this turn of the millennium is a joker. For political reasons, the low hanging fruit of coal power generation is omitted #CHANGE #WITC (Where Is The Change).
It is sad that Nigerians lose sight of history... Here is the story as told by our Solidarity Action Network Member, SAN Yinka Adeosun:
About forty years ago, a group of looters in uniform and native garbs went to Soviet Union and roped Nigeria into an unviable project. Why not viable?
1) Steel Making using Coal (Blast Furnace) when the country only had boiler coal as coking coal.
2) Soviet Technology was cumbersome with many other nuances.
About same time, there was another plant built on Midrex (German technology) using natural gas to generate carbon monoxide to break down iron ore into iron pellets and brisket. The iron ore was imported from Guinea. The plant ran successfully for less than a decade and was killed by corruption, over staffing etc. This is the story of Aladja.
Obadanjo came back, pumped $100m to revive it and later sold it to a consortium of Indian crooks with some Nigerians as fronts at $30m. The Indians simply came on board, got it working, repatriated as much as they could, borrowed billions from banks, owed suppliers billions and simply SUBLIMATED.
I used the term because solid is expected to turn to liquid and then gas. With sublimation, solid turns to gas directly for easy disappearance like the mysterious snake swallowing millions.
Are we cursed as a nation?
The electronics are dead and buried. People who had initial training had since retired.
Reviving Ajaokuta is like setting up a factory to produce slide rules or a shop to sell iron beds! World Bank has told Nigeria long ago about the unviability. The rail line is single track and DSC is no more. Katsina, Jos and Osogbo rolling mills are monuments.
Government had no business in business. Let the legislooters spend their fat salaries and jumbo allowances on the project. But,, Dogara needs to consult a psychiatrist soonest.
Ajaokuta can never be viable. If government is against concession, let them offer it for rent and see if there would be takers.
Are they going to start from scratch? There is no comparable advantage. The unit cost, after all the padding, would make the products cost twice the cost of imports. Can anyone remember Peugeout GL, SL vs Imported SR in early 80's that led to the death of PAN? Is Nigeria not playing the Russian roulette once again?
˝There is no present or future; only the past, happening over and over again now.˝ ~ Eugene O'Neill, A Moon for the Misbegotten
Cry My Beloved Country.
Ajaokuta is a Local Government Area in Kogi State, Nigeria and a town within it on the left bank of the Niger River. The headquarters of the LGA are in the town of Egayin in the south of the area. It has an area of 1,362 km² and a population of 122,321 at the 2006 census. As of 2008 Ajaokuta, the town, had an estimated population of 16,039.
The town is the home of the multibillion-dollar Ajaokuta Steel Mill, the largest steel mill in Nigeria. Begun by the Soviet Union in 1979 under a cooperation agreement with Nigeria, the complex reached 98% completion by 1994 (15 years after)! The steelworks have been called the “bedrock of Nigeria’s industrialisatio ”. However, the project has been mismanaged, and the steel mill has not produced a single sheet of steel as of December 2017!
Ajaokuta and Itakpe are elephant projects; single track rail lines leading to nowhere. Whoever is selling the dummy about diesel fired station at this turn of the millennium is a joker. For political reasons, the low hanging fruit of coal power generation is omitted #CHANGE #WITC (Where Is The Change).
It is sad that Nigerians lose sight of history... Here is the story as told by our Solidarity Action Network Member, SAN Yinka Adeosun:
About forty years ago, a group of looters in uniform and native garbs went to Soviet Union and roped Nigeria into an unviable project. Why not viable?
1) Steel Making using Coal (Blast Furnace) when the country only had boiler coal as coking coal.
2) Soviet Technology was cumbersome with many other nuances.
About same time, there was another plant built on Midrex (German technology) using natural gas to generate carbon monoxide to break down iron ore into iron pellets and brisket. The iron ore was imported from Guinea. The plant ran successfully for less than a decade and was killed by corruption, over staffing etc. This is the story of Aladja.
Obadanjo came back, pumped $100m to revive it and later sold it to a consortium of Indian crooks with some Nigerians as fronts at $30m. The Indians simply came on board, got it working, repatriated as much as they could, borrowed billions from banks, owed suppliers billions and simply SUBLIMATED.
I used the term because solid is expected to turn to liquid and then gas. With sublimation, solid turns to gas directly for easy disappearance like the mysterious snake swallowing millions.
Are we cursed as a nation?
The electronics are dead and buried. People who had initial training had since retired.
Reviving Ajaokuta is like setting up a factory to produce slide rules or a shop to sell iron beds! World Bank has told Nigeria long ago about the unviability. The rail line is single track and DSC is no more. Katsina, Jos and Osogbo rolling mills are monuments.
Government had no business in business. Let the legislooters spend their fat salaries and jumbo allowances on the project. But,, Dogara needs to consult a psychiatrist soonest.
Ajaokuta can never be viable. If government is against concession, let them offer it for rent and see if there would be takers.
Are they going to start from scratch? There is no comparable advantage. The unit cost, after all the padding, would make the products cost twice the cost of imports. Can anyone remember Peugeout GL, SL vs Imported SR in early 80's that led to the death of PAN? Is Nigeria not playing the Russian roulette once again?
˝There is no present or future; only the past, happening over and over again now.˝ ~ Eugene O'Neill, A Moon for the Misbegotten
Cry My Beloved Country.
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