NSE: Nigeria Cannot Boost Manufacturing Without Revamping Steel Sector

•Calls for transparency in new power tariff management

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) yesterday urged the government to sharpen the current focus on revamping the steel sector, insisting that without a virile steel industry, it will be difficult to revitalise the manufacturing sector.

Speaking during a media parley at the NSE headquarters in Abuja, the President of the organisation, Mrs Margaret Oguntala, said it was heart-warming that the Bola Tinubu administration was already heeding its call to revamp the Ajaokuta Steel Company in Kogi state.

However, the first female president of the NSE since its inception over 65 years ago, noted that other such steel companies like Aladja steel in Delta as well as the Steel Rolling Mill in Oshogbo, Osun state, must be equally rehabilitated.

The NSE had in December 2023 demanded that its members should be involved in the acceleration and the reactivation as well as modernisation of the critical steel company.

But Oguntala, during the briefing, stated that the government already heeded the call and had incorporated some of the engineering body’s members to ensure the rehabilitation of the firm.

“Since after the summit, the government has taken some steps to resuscitate and revamp the Ajaokuta steel company. We received an invitation from the Ministry of Steel Development. We received an invitation from them to join the task team for the revamping. We also received an invitation from one of the consultants that they are using, who also felt that NSE should be part of it.

“And we nominated some of our members, those who are experts in that field. We have one of them who retired from Ajaokuta steel company as a director, who has a lot of knowledge. And we have received feedback that this member of ours is doing very well.

“So, I’m sure that work is ongoing. And, in short, the government has responded to that call to revamp the steel industry. As rightly observed, unless we have the Ajaokuta steel company up and running, and maybe Delta steel, Aladja and Oshogbo Steel Rolling mill, unless we have them up and running, we cannot hope to revamp the manufacturing sector.

“Last year, our conference was on the manufacturing sector, which is what you are talking about. And we all agreed on that sector at that conference that there is no way we can hope to have any progress in that sector unless we revamp the steel industry. The government has responded positively to our call and work is ongoing on that,” he stated.

She also called for transparency in the administration of the recent hike in electricity tariff, advising the authorities to ensure an effective sanctions framework, minimum time for fault repairs, accessible customer service applications, and reliable metering scheme.

She maintained that what is currently happening in the aviation’s sector, where there are no sanctions on the airlines for flight delays, must not be allowed to remain the norm in the power sector.

On whether the administration has done well in terms of deploying engineers to head ministries that are technical, Oguntala explained that the Tinubu administration has done well, but said a lot more needed to be done.

She argued that a number of the ministers who are engineers are currently heading various ministries where their services are needed, explaining that it is why Nigerians are experiencing some difference compared to their predecessors.

Earlier, she stated that the NSE administration was running on five strong pillars as its strategic agenda for the two-year tenure, including membership development and improving intergovernmental/industry/academia collaboration.

She listed others as: Reinforcing international relations mechanisms, re-imaging the NSE for better publicity and governance structure as well as improved community impact.

Following from the pillars outlined above, Oguntala explained that the body had been engaging with strategic stakeholders in different sectors for collaborations and partnerships that will ultimately yield the desired outcomes.