The signing of the £746 million port infrastructure agreement between Nigeria and the United Kingdom is raising concerns among stakeholders.

The agreement aims to modernise two of Nigeria’s busiest maritime hubs – Apapa and Tincan ports.

Of the £746 million, British contractors will take £246 million, while another £70 million will go to British Steel.

Experts decried the planned importation of steel for port revamp as a reflection of the neglect of the moribund steel industry.

An economist, Prof. Akpan Ekpo, argued that this deal simply reinforces Nigeria’s neo-colonial status and only benefits British industry by revitalising its ailing steel industry and enhancing its banks. He said it would leave Nigeria in generational debt and would only create jobs for the British, not for Nigerians.

“If you look at the deal that was signed, all the equipment needed to renovate the port is coming from the British side and there is not much gain for Nigerians or our local industries. It would have been better for proper experts to go over the deal thoroughly before agreeing to sign any MoU. This deal will leave Nigerians in serious debt,” he stressed.

He regretted that the Ajaokuta steel company, as well as the one in Osogbo and other steel companies nationwide, have been abandoned and left to rot away, which he said should have supplied the steel needed to revamp the ports.

“Instead of us trying to revive our collapsed steel industry, the president went to sign a deal to import British steel into Nigeria. This deal will not benefit us, our local industries or economy in any way,” he said.

Over the last decade, the Federal Government has spent close to two trillion Naira on the Ajaokuta facility through salaries, settlements and various ‘revival’ efforts. Yet, the plant has never produced steel commercially.

Decrying the lost opportunity due to the lack of a functioning steel industry, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr Muda Yusuf, said Nigeria must, as a matter of urgency, revive its abandoned steel sector if it intends ever to become a serious manufacturing country.

He said beyond this current agreement, which is an example of Nigeria’s failure over the years to develop its heavy industry, he decried the loss of jobs, growth of smaller industries and capital flight.

“Trillions of naira have been earmarked and spent over the years on Ajaokuta and the different aluminium smelters scattered all over the country, with nothing to show for it. The same rot is visible in our paper industries and we have to import wood pulp to produce paper and other packaging materials. These are heavy industries that are supposed to support and feed the lighter industries; that is the whole principle of backward integration, which has now been completely defeated,” he said.

Regretting what he described as government failure, he pointed out that to date, billets and flat sheets are still imported to produce iron rods, something he said Ajaokuta and the rest should be supplying.

“We are not supporting investments in heavy industry and a glaring example is the complete failure of our steel industry, aluminium smelters and paper mills. We can trace the backward integration and the effects of these industries if they were functioning and how they would have reduced our import dependency.

“Every single steel used in Nigeria today is imported; it is a sad situation. Our construction industry uses a lot of steel yearly and we import every single one. Now, imported steel would be used to revamp the ports, when Ajaokuta and the other could have supplied the steel to be used. The level of loss and capital flight cannot be quantified,” he said.