Achuba: Human Factor and Internal Saboteurs Behind Ajaokuta’s Decay 

A former deputy governor of Kogi State, Samson Achuba has insisted that the immediate past governor of the state, Yahaya Bello worked to ensure that the Ajaokuta Steel does not work because he intends to run it as a personal enterprise.

This comes as the Senate set up a 10-member ad hoc committee to ascertain the reasons behind the waning state of the Ajaokuta Steel Company and the National Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO) despite the alleged payment of $496 million to contractors between 2008 and now.

The Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan had earlier presented a motion identifying political will and bureaucratic corruption as major factors that contributed to the waning state of the Ajaokuta Steel Company.

Achuba in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Thursday, stated the motion by Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan was a ‘move in the right direction and is what is needed to unveil the hidden things in Ajaokuta.’

“How can a sitting governor bring up a company and lure the state to come and back it as if it is a state company meanwhile, it is your personal enterprise? There is a letter that was written by SSG, after that memo was withdrawn. He wrote to the CAC telling CAC that the company is for Kogi State after it was withdrawn and was not approved. Was that the right thing to do? It means there are motives, other intentions behind it.

“Ajaokuta had problems before the Yahaya Bello tenure, that is true. The president, Mohammadu Buhari then came with great intentions to get the Ajaokuta revived but the cog that Bello brought in weakened all that intention and that is currently what is playing out. 

“Bello is all out to make sure that he runs Ajaokuta and so he is doing all that he can to make sure it does not work, if not tell me why a traditional ruler or a group of traditional rulers write a letter to the senate not to probe the money released for Ajaokuta settlement? It means certainly hey know more than we do.

“The motion moved by senator Natasha was a move in the right direction and is what is needed to unveil the hidden things in Ajaokuta.  I want to tell Nigerians that in 2017, a memo came to the state executive council and on that memo was Ajaokuta/ Kogi Nigeria Limited and a lot of people started contributing and saying this company has to be given the right to manage Ajaokuta and I kept watching and made two observations.

 “I asked who sponsored this memo and also what is the relationship between Ajaokuta/Kogi Nigeria Limited and Kogi State government and how did it find its way to the exco and within minutes, the memo disappeared. It was after that Natasha went to the senate to expose what was happening in Kogi State.

“The Kogi State governor then, registered this company to do business and brought it into Kogi State as a cover up and since then, Ajaokuta has not been able to move forward. The Ajaokuta/Kogi Nigeria Limited is not for Kogi State at all.

 “It is a personal property I suspect of Yahaya Bello and as of today, the directors of this company are not from Kogi. One of them is from Imo and the other one is from Benue. The Imo guy is called Okechukwu Onochie and the Benue guy is Emmanuel Okava, these are the two directors of the Ajaokuta/Kogi Nigeria limited and all that Bello has been doing is to ensure that Ajaokuta and its management are handed over to him and if that happens, this country should know that that is the end of Ajaokuta.”

He further noted that the Ajaokuta was very viable and would pass an environment impact assessment test if done.

“The Ajaokuta is viable and I want to say that there is no way we can have the necessary technological development in Nigeria if we do not develop our steel industry. Steel is important and it is a core industry that can generate and pivot technological development in Nigeria. So, it is very viable. It is not in the hinterland. Ajaokuta steel is by the Niger which is the biggest river in Nigeria, so, the transportation of its parts and all that is needed to and from Ajaokuta is viable.

“Secondly, there are rail lines connected to Ajaokuta steel rolling mill so, there is nothing that makes it not viable. It is the human behavior and unwillingness of the actors and some saboteurs in Kogi State that has made it not work.

“If an impact assessment test is done on Ajaokuta, it will definitely pass. This is my view; that a technical audit of Ajaokuta steel rolling mill must be done to ascertain the possibility or cost of what it will take to revamp the company. I am one who thinks if given responsibility must act responsibly and act in the interest of Nigeria and those they govern. That I didn’t see in Yahaya Bello”

Chioma Kalu