Prof. Nasir Naeem Abdulsalam was appointed by president Tinubu to take over the position of Managing Director/CEO of Ajaokuta Steel Mill Company in a move to complete what had been known as one of the world’s abandoned super-projects.
Prof Nasir who was serving as the Technical adviser to the Minister of Steel Development and offered professional expertise at the National Institute for Legislative Studies. Before his remarkable contributions in improving national development in governance at the National Assembly and Federal Ministry of Steel Development, he was an associate professor and lecturer of Geophysics at the University of Abuja.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics, Masters and PhD Geophysics. In addition, he also has a Masters in Elections and party Politics. Over the past 14 years of his academic life, he had presented several papers of research in physics, geology and environmental sciences.
The former aide to Prince Shuaibu Audu, Minister of Steel Development is not only academically competent but also gained empirical experience in the steel industry to drive the actualization of the Ajaokuta Steel Mill which had defied over three and half decade of management proclivity. Considered one of the oldest uncompleted projects in Africa which had amassed billions of dollars without actualization, the appointment of Prof Nasir maybe one that would break the agelong jinx.
Ajaokuta Steel Company was dubbed the “bedrock of Nigeria’s industrialization”, and it stood as the symbol of Nigeria’s dream of greatness, modernity and prosperity.
However, that dream didn’t materialize. The project spans 24,000 hectares (59,305 acres), almost the size of the Maldives islands in the Indian Ocean, which includes the 800-hectare plant and a town comprising 10,000 houses, a hospital, and a school.
But almost nothing has been completed since construction started 38 years ago.. Of the 10,000 houses envisioned for workers, the 4,000 completed are occupied mostly by retirees. The current workforce of about 1,500 civil servants is tasked primarily with keeping parts of the plant in serviceable condition.
The combined 120 kilometres (75 miles) of internal roads and railroads, including the school, library, and hospital for workers and their families, are largely unused. The clearings meant to store coal for the furnace now serve for cattle graze.
Russian contractor Tyajz Prom Export (TPE) first started construction in 1979. It was estimated to cost between $6 billion to $10 billion. Yet, the steel company has never produced a single bar, coil or rod due to repeated stops and starts, ownership changes, poor governance, and sheer incompetence that hamstrung the project. Today, ‘Made in USSR’ adorns a rusty crane at the Ajaokuta Steel complex.