By Ayodele Ifasakin
The Federal Government has paid workers of the moribund Ajaokuta Steel Company the total sum of N38.9bn as salaries and allowances in 10 years, Saturday PUNCH reports.
 |
| Idle Ajaokuta steel workers got N38.9 billion salaries in 10 years without producing one steel - Investigation reveals |
This is despite the inability of the company to produce a single sheet of steel since its inception.
The Ajaokuta Integrated Steel Complex, conceived in 1979, was developed to establish a Metallurgical Process Plant alongside an Engineering Complex and various auxiliary facilities.
The complex is meant to generate important upstream and downstream industrial and economic activities that are critical to the diversification of the economy into an industrial one.
On its website, the company said it directly employed about 10,000 workers at the first phase of commissioning while the upstream and downstream industries that would evolve all over the nation would engage no fewer than 500,000 employees.
Ajaokuta Steel Plant, aptly known as the Bedrock of Nigeria’s industrialisation, is more than just a rolling mill—it’s an Integrated Iron and Steel Plant.
It boasts four distinct rolling mills: the Billet Mill, the Light Section Mill, the Wire Rod Mill, and the Medium Section and Structural Mill.
