By Muhammad Bello
In its effort to fast track the industrialization of the country, the federal government is still poised to unveil its Industrial Revolution Plan (IRP) which is intended to develop the ecosystem and make the country self-sufficient by harnessing the potentials of the steel sector as the hub of infrastructure development
President Goodluck Jonathan stated this today at the commissioning of the multi-million naira state of the art 5-stand tandem cold rolled steel plant by WEMPCO Steel Mill Company Limited,located on Kilometer 8, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
According to the president, the government has recorded lots of achievements in the steel sector by raising the number of steel rolling mills to 15, from an abysmal near-zero before the advent of the incumbent administration.
He also indicated that from a current figure of 3 million tonnes of liquid steel being produced, the government intends to increase the number to 12 million in 2020, stressing that he believes self-sufficiency in steel production will open downstream sector opportunities for many artisans and those that are currently unemployed but have the requisite skills to put the resources to use.
Pointing out that his administration expects that WEMPCO will use the chance it has in investing in the country by providing full backward integration to the citizens, the president said: government will continue to encourage foreign investors for the good of the country,” while expecting that they will reciprocate by being accountable.
He applauded the company for demonstrating that it has confidence in the government by locating the cold steel plant on a 700,000 hectares of land in Ogun State, thus contributing to the growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), promoting job creation and acquisition of job skills among others.
He also commended the Ogun State government for the giant strides in infrastructure development, noting that the government of Governor Ibikunle Amosun has done tremendously well by making the environment conducive for investors and bringing obvious result, such as employment generation and increased Internally Generated Rvenue, to bear on the people ofthe state.
In his remarks, Governor Amosun, said within four years of his first tenure the IGR of the state rose from a paltry N700,000 million to about N4 billion this year, adding that the state has now been re-positioned as one with the largest industrial base in the country.
In his speech, the Group Managing Director of WEMPCO Group, Mr Lewis Tung, said the steel sector is the backbone for infrastructural development in the country, noting thatit is equally crucial and fundamental to any development as well.
