Nigerian engineers seek roles in revival of Ajaokuta steel

The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) has urged the Federal Government to involve indigenous engineers in the revival roadmap of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex.

President of the Society, Tasiu Sa’ad Gidari-Wudil, who revealed this in Abuja, while speaking on the Society’s forthcoming national engineering conference, exhibition and yearly general meeting, argued that reviving the moribund complex may be a mirage until Nigerian engineers are involved in the process.

“Since the efforts to revive the complex started, Nigerian engineers have never been involved in the process. Though the complex may not be fully built by Nigerian engineers, efforts at reviving it require indigenous collaboration,” he stated.

The NSE chief explained that participants of the conference which has ‘Re-engineering the manufacturing sector for competitiveness and enhanced economic growth’, as the theme, will critically examine how to revive collapsed national assets such as the Ajaokuta Steel company

Gidari-Wudil explained that the theme of the conference was informed by the continuing decline of activities in the manufacturing space of Nigeria’s economy.

His words: “Nigerian Engineers are concerned about the gradual erosion of the little record Nigeria had on her non-oil export performance in the 60s and 70s. Even though the non-oil export performance record was mainly based on agricultural produce, there were days of textile, coal, tyres, hides skin and many other products exported in Nigeria. The rubber plantations in the South have disappeared, the coal mines in the East are no more, the textile hubs in Kaduna and Kano are moribund, and so is the tannery industry across the North.”

While not absolving the complicity of Nigerian engineers in the complications that led to the present state of the Nigerian economy, Gidari-Wudil argued that the NSE had been collaborating with the Federal Government which led to the establishment of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) in 1992.

He said: “I cannot exonerate Nigerian engineers in the whole mix, but we as engineers under the auspices of NSE have been collaborating with the Federal Government. This led to the establishment of NASENI by the Babangida regime.

The reason the sitting President is the board chair of the agency is to ensure that the President drives the process of technological advancement in Nigeria. But events of recent years have shown us that that has not worked. Successive Presidents have not paid the desired attention to technological advancement of the country.”

The Society also bemoaned the exit of over two hundred Nigerian engineers to the Saudi Arabian national oil company, Saudi Aramco.

Gidari-Wudil held that while some Nigerians abroad are desirous of coming back home, the government must create an enabling environment to make sure returns are possible.

He said: “There is nothing wrong with people travelling abroad to work or go to school. India, China, and Japan did that to develop their countries. What the government must now do is create an environment that is welcoming where individuals can work, raise a family and enjoy life after retirement.

“There are over 200 engineers that I met in Saudi Aramco. Some of them want to come back home. Is the environment conducive enough to make that happen? People that have gone out will eventually come back. But to tap from their experiences, the government must encourage them to come back and contribute to the economic growth of the country.”