The House of Representatives and the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development have continued to exchange words on the true position of the Ajaokuta Steel Plant situated in Kogi state, North Central, Nigeria.
The Minister, Dr Kayode Fayemi and the Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Abubakar Bawa Bwari, in a statement by the Special Assistant on Media, Yinka Oyebode said their attention has been drawn to the debate by members of the House of Representatives on a resolution to stop the planned concession of the steel company. An attempt, they described as gross misunderstanding of the working of the concession.
“Whilst the ministers are convinced the members mean well as patriots concerned about an important national asset, it is also a fact that they have grossly misunderstood the Ministers and other stakeholders working with the Ministry on this exercise.
The ministers said for purpose of clarity, the ministry has not contracted any transaction adviser for the concessioning of Ajaokuta Steel Company, as wrongly asserted by the House.
They stressed that the process for the appointment of a Transaction Adviser is on, but cannot be completed until it gets the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
According to the ministers, “The Ministry has not spent a dime from the N2, 096,500.00 (Two billion, ninety six million, five hundred thousand Naira) appropriated by the House for the concessioning of Ajaokuta Steel Company (in the 2017 Appropriation Law).
They said the mediation process that led to the amicable settlement of the legal encumbrances on Ajaokuta Steel Complex has not ended. “There are still a few more steps to be taken as outlined in the terms of (out of court) settlement. And the Ministry is following up on this.
It is also important to state that no one has been hired.
They added that it is rather worrisome that the House of Representatives could devote an entire day to an issue that has not even arisen.
They gave assurances that the ministry remains committed to making Ajaokuta Steel Plant function effectively adding that steel industry remains the most important engineering material and backbone of industrialization in any economy.
Earlier, the House of Representatives had accused the ministry under Dr. Kayode Fayemi of plans to concession the Ajaokuta Steel Plant through the back door.
Ministry to host conference on lead poisoning in June
In a bid to curtail further outbreak of lead poisoning in Nigeria, the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development is set to organise another international conference on the mining problem in June.
This problem is said to be associated with Artisinal and Small -Scale Mining in the country.
To coordinate the programmes of the day, the ministry inaugurated the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for the hosting of the second International Conference on Lead poisoning.
The conference which will draw participants from different mining nations will focus specifically on prevention.
Participants would include local and International experts with diverse areas of specialization to contribute to finding relevant solutions to the multi-sectoral nature of lead poisoning in Nigeria.
The Minister of State for Mines and steel Development, Hon.Abubakar BawaBwari, while speaking at the event drew attention to the sad and unprecedented outbreak of lead poisoning which occurred in Zamfara State in 2010 with about 500 casualties, mainly children.
He stated that the cause of the incident was attributed to the activities of Artisinal gold miners in the area who employed unwholesome gold processing methods at homes and village squares where children become exposed to lead laden dusts.
Hon. Bwari said it took a combined efforts of different international agencies, including the medecins San Frontires (MSF), the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, World health Organization (WHO), TerraGraphcs Engineering, the government of Zamfarastate and the Federal Government of Nigeria to curb the incident.
“It has been discovered that recontamination of previously remediated areas is going on at present. This is coupled with the growing cases of children not responding to treatment which has necessitated the need for workable and safer mining programmes to prevent reoccurrence,”the minister added.
The Minister stated that the responsibility of the 14-member committee headed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. AbdulkadirMu’azu and Head of mission, MSF, Paul Arumah, are to: execute planning, organization and implementation of the conference; work out the conference content as well as form technical sub-committee to develop invitation and time table to ensure that local, national, international and interdisciplinary perspectives are adequately represented.
Other members of the committee include Project Coordinator, Mindiver, Executive Secretary Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF), five directors from the ministry, representatives of the Federal Ministry of Environment, Health, Labour, UNIDO, WHO, Global Rights, representatives of the governments of Zamfara and Niger states and the Nigerian Immigration Service.
The minister urged them to devote their utmost attention and energy to ensure that the objectives of the conference are realized.
Earlier, the Director of Artisanal and Small Scale Mining , Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Patrick Ojeka, disclosed that the Federal Government in collaboration with Zamfara and Niger state governments, MSF and other international bodies have carried out an intervention programme that mitigated the escalation of led poisoning in the country.
