Blames poor railway infrastructure for Mokwa flood
Minister of Steel, Shuaibu Audu, has stated that the Federal Government loses $4 billion yearly in foreign exchange to imported steel products.
He disclosed this during a press conference yesterday to announce the inaugural National Steel Summit coming up on July 15, 2025.
Audu assured Nigerians that before the expiration of the first term of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, the first section of the Ajaokuta Steel Plant should kick-start operation.
He stated that President Tinubu had been actively working to ensure the utilisation of the abundant raw steel materials in Nigeria and the emergence of a steel sector in the country.
The minister explained that the summit aimed to mobilise all relevant stakeholders, public and private, for the comprehensive revival of Nigeria’s steel sector, which has long suffered from decades of neglect.
He said: “Despite the chequered history of steel development in Nigeria, which dates back to 1958, the present Renewed Hope Agenda of the Administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is already pushing the right buttons to ensure the emergence of a virile steel industry in Nigeria.
ALSO yesterday, the Federal Government blamed poor railway infrastructure for the recent devastating flood in Mokwa, Niger State, which led to the loss of lives, destruction of farmland, and displacement of residents.
The Managing Director of the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), Aliyu Abdulhameed, stated this when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Hydrological Services and the Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC), led by Paschal Agbodike.
The meeting was an interactive session with relevant agencies on measures and solutions to flood disaster management in Nigeria, with a focus on the Mokwa case among others.
The Managing Director said the catastrophe was not caused by the release of water from the Kainji or Jebba dams, as widely speculated.
Abdulhameed said: “What happened in Mokwa, in particular, was caused majorly by the railway in the area. That was the only reason that made it happen. There is a railway embankment, up to about four meters high, that was actually stopping the water from draining into the River Niger.”
That was the major reason, it had nothing to do with Kainji Dam, it had nothing to do with Jebba Dam. Both are downstream.
The committee summoned the Managing Director of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) and the Minister of Transportation to appear before it over their alleged role in the devastating flood that ravaged Mokwa, Niger State.
