RE: THE NEED TO REVIVE THE NIGERIAN STEEL INDUSTRY – STARTING WITH THE DELTA STEEL COMPANY (DSC), OVWIAN ALADJA, DELTA STATE

By Zik Gbemre

Though, I have written on the subject matter recently, but I still consider it necessary to continue reiterating this subject advocacy until my voice is heard on Steel development, and the need to give it the required attention.

There was a time in this country when the Nigerian Steel Industry, particularly the Ajaokuta Steel Company and the Delta Steel Company (DSC) were not only great employers of labour but also thriving very well amongst it equals in the global steel industry. But today, all that has changed and words are not even enough to describe the rot that has eaten deep into the country’s steel sector.

The deplorable situation and the pathetic neglect of the Delta Steel Company (DSC), is just one example of the sort of rot existing in the country’s steel industry. Out of the four privatized government-owned rolling mills, only Katsina Rolling Mill was said to be functional some few years back. Some time ago, a Director of Steel and Non-Ferrous Metals Department in the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, he noted that Delta Steel, Jos, and Osogbo Mills are yet to commence operation nine years after their privatization. That is how bad the situation is. The Director also noted that they have been discussing and battling with the private investors/owners of these companies to see that they begin operations. That was some few years ago and we are yet to see any positive development in this regard. And he warned that these are lessons we have to learn as a nation when next we are privatizing.

Recently, a public affairs analyst and social commentator, Mr. Smart Ofugara, noted how in 39 years after, we are still “DREAMING” of steel production from the once admired Delta Steel Company (DSC). In Ofugara’s words: “Alhaji Shehu Shagari’s official visit to Bendel State to commission the Delta Steel industry in 1980 was greeted with hope, faith and pageantry. The nation had hoped that with the crude oil by the side, the bedrock for real economic development and social stability was a sure thing. It was a dream which very many people had envisioned will materialize into reality and transform our nation beyond the narrow confines of parochialism and social malaise.

“Since this was a dream, which I am yet to wake up from like very many people, I am even more saddened by the fact that the very erudite Nigerian with a very good heart having astute qualities is no more with us to shed lights on what, why, where, the Nigerian bleak custom and value entered this noble dream to thwart that vision and how we can possibly wake up to reality. I am referring to Senator Fred Brume of blessed memories. He was the pioneering Managing Director (MD) of Delta Steel Company (DSC), Aladja.

“Steel, from humanity Engineering is ‘an alloy of iron and carbon, and sometimes other elements.’ Our science teachers will be in a better position to define it properly for those who wish to take a certificate exam on it. Like our vast cash crops, we also have a vast deposit of iron ore which was projected to feed into Ajaokuta and DSC. Perhaps, our greatest undoing or invalidating as a nation has been to see everything through the lenses of North, South, East and West. Or the application of double standards like the dual exchange rate. This has narrowed progress in every area or aspects thereby prolonging this endless dream. On my part, I am concerned with what my limited learning of what Steel should and could do as we all wake up from slumber to the embrace of a visionary leader and leadership. My people would say that you cannot give what you do not have; therefore, only a leader with a clear vision, plan, knowledge and determined with a piloted Will to serve above self, can deliver true progress.

“For a nation to grow and multiply, ‘the steel industry is often considered an indicator of economic progress’ since steel plays a pivotal role in infrastructural and economic/ social growth. The once poor or third world nations of China and India had a massive and noticeable economic boom from the world with demands and uses to which steel from China and India were used in the world markets by its demand. This rise and stability became very remarkable from 1999 through 2017 and their impact in world affairs cannot, and have not been ignored whether as economic power, military power, or modern day silent recolonization of some nations. True; this is apparently happening in my endless dream.

“As I travel to different countries, I have observed that the uses to which steel is put into is very enormous. Namely, in the construction of roads, bridges, railways, appliances, buildings, warehouses, churches, hotels, airports, schools and a host of other projects as the eyes can see and identify. Please open your cell phone and verify where the SIM card is located, it is made from steel. The vast stadiums where football or soccer are played is erected on the strength of steel. The skyscrapers we admire when visiting Shanghai, New York, Dubai, are erected on the strength of steel. I know someone will soon say that aluminum is also part of it. And that is very correct. This is because like the teeth and the tongue, they cooperate and live in the same space.

“What about the timber industries where doors, furnitures, beds, office spaces, bathroom partition, locker rooms for sports, storages, and a host of products. Yes, steel is involved as nails, screws, screwdrivers, bolts and nuts, clips, window railing and rings. The cooking utensils and cutleries used at homes, hotels, hostels, and other designated eateries places are made from steel. On a much larger scale, what happened to boat yard, boat/ ship building? Steel is very much involved. Recently, I came across a video of Singapore airport been described as the best airport in the world. Underlying this great airport is the role of steel in the erecting of this massive edifice which has become a tourist destination. You will need to google it to appreciate what is been described here. Only visionary leadership can deliver on this. I will also draw your attention to the now popular Dubai as transit point, tourist center, holiday or vacation depot, shopping and meeting spot, massive land reclamation and urban transformation. These have been made possible because of investment focus and empowerment. These are not lip service self-centered and myopic power drunk sit tight actors delivering world class growth and empowerment. We should emulate and listen to the voice of reasoning while doing the needful. The list goes on, and being in my dreams it is difficult to list all the uses of steel and its impact in creating employment with the ultimate goal for empowerment.

“There is need to be massive investment in the various uses to which our steel industries can be revived. With a deliberate and well-orchestrated investment for multiplier growth in mind, unemployment would be addressed and creativity with an enabling environment would thrive. The rest would be history as we cannot stop the progress once this vision can sail into reality. The approach to solving some of our endless failing roads would be to employ the use of steel with concrete in elevating identified sections of our roads in its construction so that carnages can at least be reduced. Stadiums should be built for sporting activities to accommodate various sporting events. Competitions in games should be encouraged and times for tournaments reviewed to accommodate spectators and should not be limited to weekends only and must be done with the goal for generating revenue through a refined ticketing system.

“Now that this dream seems to be dragging out of context, I think we have reached a crossroad where education and a strong campaign needs to be carried out in a completely none bureaucratic fashion to revive the ailing steel industries with real investment and the enabling structures. The legion of able-bodied men are still available, the history of how we got to this abandonment is still available, the players at various levels in the administration of the steel industry are either aging fast or still active as go-to for a sense of direction.”

That iron and steel constitutes the fundamental fulcrum on which technological development and advancement can take place remains an unquestionable truism. From the Paleolithic Age (the earliest period of the Stone Age), the Mesolithic Age (middle stone age, between the Paleolithic and Neolithic ages) down through the Neolithic Age (the new stone age) to the Iron Age, the illusive variable for development has always been “Iron”. Its discovery as a tool of civilisation stimulated a sonorous music, to the modern world. But man is, however, already in the Space Age. The most viable paradigm for measuring development and growth in a modern world like ours is sustainable industrialisation, and industrialisation cannot take place in absence of iron and steel. It is in the recognition of this that most developed and developing countries like America, through its iron and steel locations in Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Chicago, Dallas, Birmingham, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Washington DC etc, Japan through its iron and steel industries in Kobe, Osaka, Yokohama, Toyama, Oita, Kitakyushu and Tokyo etc. Peru has one in Chimbote, Brazil has one in Belo Horizonte, Venezuela has in Guidad Guayama, some states of the old Soviet Union have, Tbilisi in Georgia. All these nations have made great technological and industrial strides because of the presence of iron and steel.

The history of iron and steel development in Nigeria especially its siting is fraught with military and political maneuvers. The Jos, Enugu and Oshogbo Rolling Mills that are supposed to maintain an industrial symbiosis with the Delta Steel Company (DSC) and the Ajaokuta Steel Company through a syncretic capacity to absorb their products are just not there. The technological conceptualization of the iron and steel complex was a brilliant and laudable idea which took off very well, with adequate training and provision of manpower in every department of iron and steel complex management, production, maintenance, finance, raw materials and ergonomics. Under its pioneer Chief Executive Officer; Senator Fred Brume, Delta Steel Company (DSC) was heading towards becoming the hope of the long-awaited break-through in industrial development for Nigeria and Africa. But given the Nigerian factor – The pull him down (PHD) mentality, hell was let loose. From tribal wrangling to diabolical atrophy through inter-and intra-personality clashes to atrabilious politicking the great Delta Steel Company Limited, Ovwian- Aladja was murdered. It is no more. It is no more. Paradise lost. Like all viable projects in Nigeria, even at national level there is no administrative continuity and so there is always an administrative chasm. As soon as it creeps in the center cannot hold. So, it happened to Delta Steel Company Limited.

Another public affairs analyst, Mr. Bobson Gbinije, also noted that: “Today, the power of words cannot describe the state of degeneracy into which the once beautiful Permanent Residential site, the Satellite Town and the Industrial Complex have plunged. Retrenched workers not paid their benefits have paid themselves through vandalizing and pillaging the existing structures. The state of the workers in Delta Steel Company Ovwian Aladja under the new management is better imagined than seen. With no salaries for upwards of nine (9) months they are crippling suffocating under the stranglehold of latent poverty. Most have resigned their fate to the Almighty, some have become peasant farmers, some have taken to menial jobs, their wives have become petty traders and their children casual labourers while the plant is kept running with no production. Finally, what a hideous and horrendous disgrace to the Delta State Government, the present management of the Delta Steel Company Ovwian Aladja, the Nigerian Association of Engineers, Commerce and Industries, Nigeria Labour Congress and the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Zik Gbemre.

National Coordinator

Niger Delta Peace Coalition (NDPC)