By Victoria Onehi
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, MMSD, Arc. Olamilekan Adegbite, has inaugurated the reconstituted National Steel Council at the Ministry’s Headquarters, Abuja.
Adegbite noted that President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval of the Council is a step in the right direction as it will bring Nigeria closer to achieving self – sufficiency in Steel production.
In a Statement, the Minister said the Terms of Reference of the commitee include, research and development for the Steel industry.This comprises of research and development of the technology and other aspects of Iron and Steel production.
The Minister of State, MMSD, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, expressed delight at the composition of the board and urged the Committee to fast-track the development of the industry.
On her part, the Minister of Finance, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed urged the Committee members to bring their wealth of experience to bear in re- engineering and repositioning of the Steel Sector to actualise the Federal Government’s targeted economic growth.
The Permanent Secretary, Dr. Oluwatoyin Akinlade, represented by the Director, Artisanal and Small – Scale Mining (ASM), Mr Patrick Ojeka added that the function of the Council is designed to cover areas that contribute in developing the relevant human capacity and necessary tools that will build up and sustain metallurgical and Steel Sector.
The 10 – member Committee, is Chaired by Muhammad Murtala Aliyu with Amb. Abdulkarim Musafari as its Executive Secretary.
Responding, the Chairman of the Council, Muhammad Murtala Aliyu, pledged that his team will assiduously work to achieve a milestone which will change the narrative of the industry and take the country to greater heights.
