By Chris Ekpenyong

The untold hardship faced by Nigerians today due to the high cost of foodstuff, goods and services and high rate of unemployment is a serious concern.

A recent World Bank report said the rising prices of foodstuff pushed an estimated seven million Nigerians below the poverty line in 2020 alone and accounted for over 60 percent of the total increase in inflation.

Today, the economy of the giant of Africa is threatening to collapse completely.

All over the world, no country has thrived on reliance on a mono-product economy. Therefore, like always, I am reiterating my stance that we must diversify if we must guide Nigeria’s ailing economy out of the woods.

Agriculture must be accorded a top priority. It is time to return to Agriculture.

There is also the need to revive our moribund and abandoned industries littered in all parts of the country. There are notable and critical examples.

One of them is Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria, popularly called ALSCON. It is unarguably one of the largest aluminium smelting companies ever to be sited on the continent of Africa. It is also unarguably one of the most strategically located on the planet.

With the proximity of this plant to neighbouring African countries around the Gulf of Guinea like Ghana, Togo, Benin, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sao Tome, it can be easily seen that this plant would be an economic booster to Nigeria.

The story of the privatisation of Aluminium Smelting Company of Nigeria (ALSCON), a company incorporated in 1989 with the Federal Government of Nigeria, Ferrostaal of Germany and Reynolds Incorporated of America as shareholders on an equity holding of 70 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per cent respectively remains a very sad one, more than 10 years after it was privatised.

The company was established to utilize and enhance the country’s gas reserve and to discourage gas flaring in the Niger Delta. Part of the objectives for setting up ALSCON includes establishing a self-reliant aluminium factory, providing employment to Nigerians, impacting technical manpower, conserving and earning foreign exchange by meeting local aluminium demands and aiding the development of aluminium downstream industries.

As part of the vision to build a strong industrialized economy, successive Nigerian governments decided to invest in the building of various industries across the country that will provide employment, create jobs and contribute to the sustenance of a robust economy. Such projects include the commissioned Nigeria Paper Mill, Jebba, Kwara State, in 1969; Iwopin Pulp and Paper Company (IPPC), Ogun State in 1975 and Nigeria Newsprint Manufacturing Company (NNMC) in Oku-Iboku, Akwa Ibom in 1986.

Government’s plan then was for the three pulp and paper mills to provide tonnes of different papers in their thousands every year.

As of 1985, the Jebba mill was producing 65, 000 tonnes of Kraft paper, liner and chipboards, sack kraft, and corrugated cartons per annum.

The IPPC, which was billed to produce 38,000 metric tonnes of bleached short fibres and 65, 000 metric tonnes of fine writing, printing papers annually, performed above 96 percent, data from BPE showed.

Likewise, the NNMC, which had an installed capacity of 100,000 metric tonnes of newsprint per annum, produced an average of 25,440.5 metric tonnes between 1988 and 1992.

During these years, NNMC was producing international standard newsprint which was exported to the United States of America, Canada, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and many other countries. Also, as part of its achievements, the mill reduced Nigeria’s importation of newsprint up to 12.5 percent in 1987.

The pulp and paper industry up to the early 90s played a more visible role in the Nigerian economy, holding pride of place in the agro-allied and manufacturing subsectors because there was no alternative to paper, which was highly demanded and utilised all over the world and Nigeria was also naturally endowed with its primary raw material –timber.

Fast-forward to a few years later, the entire industry appears to be heading towards a final resting place, as it appears that leaders and managers of the economy have lost hope in its revival or comfortably forgotten its past virility.

Recall in June 2020, the Senate Committee on Privatisation was mandated by the Senate to investigate the operations and non-performance of paper mills sold by the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) to private owners.

The decision was reached following the consideration of a motion on ‘The Need to Revive the Moribund Paper Mills in Nigeria’.

The sponsor, my humble self, Senator Chris Ekpenyong, noted that Paper Mills was privatized by government as a result of non-performance and lack of adequate funds to run them.

I explained that: “Paper production is one of the major activities regarded as a pointer to industrialisation and educational development worldwide, making the sector a major booster to our economy.”

“The sector has gone moribund since privatisation, leaving the country with another huge income deficit.”.

Worried by ceaseless losses recorded annually in form of capital flight to foreign lands as a result of imports of newsprint and other paper products, I called for the immediate resuscitation of the three moribund Nigeria’s pulp and paper mills located in Iwopin, Ogun state; Jebba in Kwara state; and Oku-Iboku in Akwa Ibom state.

There is a global boom in the paper industry all over the world and Nigeria where the tree plants that are a major raw material can be grown in six months isn’t participating in the boom

Importation of papers costs our dear country 2billion dollars as of 2021

Ajaokuta Steel Company(ASCO): The most painful of all neglected industrial complexes in Nigeria is arguably the Ajaokuta steel company. This company which can be abbreviated as ASCO is situated in Kogi State and the steel territory covers several square kilometres. The company has nine residential estates, with each having over 1000 housing units and is home to numerous construction companies. The Ajaokuta steel company can employ over 150,000 Nigerians both directly and indirectly when completed. The resuscitation of this steel company would bring much-needed jobs and opportunities to engineering professionals and job-seeking youths in Nigeria.

Kaduna Textile Mills: Kaduna textiles located in Kaduna is reputed to be one of the leading industrial production plants in Nigeria. It has the capacity of generating over 50,000 jobs if fully functional. The implication of reviving this textile company is that agricultural raw materials from the northern part of Nigeria such as cotton would feed the company and create a seamless value chain that would provide jobs and enhance the sustainability of the industry.

Itakpe Iron Ore Mining Company: The iron ore mining company at Itakpe in Kogi State was established to feed the Ajaokuta steel company with iron ore mined by the company in Itakpe and transported to the steel company via the Itakpe-Ajaokuta rail line. The revival of this mining company would diversify the economy of Nigeria towards the solid minerals sub-sector and provide at least 5,000 direct jobs to Nigerians. The privatization of the company or complete government control with efficiency may well do the magic for this company.

Aladja Steel Rolling Mill: Aladja is located in Delta State and is home to one of Nigeria’s steel companies. Just like the Ajaokuta steel company, Aladja has been left to wallow in decay without any production activity. Resuscitating this company is the prerogative of the federal government of Nigeria. The employment generation capacity of Aladja Steel Company is put at over 10000 direct jobs if fully operational.

Jos Steel Rolling Mills: In a bid to create more employment opportunities for Nigerians, Jos steel rolling mill was established. This company is located in Jos, the plateau state capital. It was privatized during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo but has remained largely in a comatose state with no activity. The company was set up to produce steel products for building and construction. Jos steel rolling mill can provide up to 3,000 direct and indirect jobs

Katsina Steel Rolling Mill: The Katsina Steel rolling mill is located in katsina State, North West Nigeria. It was at one time taken over by the Katsina State government but has since remained redundant with more than 99 percent of the staff sacked.

Nigeria Needs to Diversify Her Economy Because Oil is Becoming Less Relevant: The relevance of oil is winding down due to technological advancement. Cars are the largest users of oil and today, technology has achieved the invention of electric cars which need no oil. It therefore means that the demand for oil will soon crash, especially as electric cars grew by 60% in Japan, a country in Asia which is the largest consumer of Nigerian oil. Japan has today more electric charge points than petrol stations. Diversification is therefore imperative against the technological trends of our jet age which continuously search for alternative sources of energy.

Nigeria needs to diversify its economy to create more jobs.

Economic diversification efforts such as the revitalization of the moribund sector of the Nigerian economy will create more jobs for the teeming unemployed Nigerian youths.

A diversified economy will absorb the majority of the unemployed Nigerians, reducing the unemployment situation in Nigeria to the barest minimum .

The agricultural sector which can’t be left out was the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy before the advent of oil. Since the discovery of oil, the sector has been neglected by successive governments.

The country is blessed with human and natural resources, but these resources are undermined and underutilised. Nigeria lost focus in agriculture when we identified oil as our main source of revenue generation. For us to redeem and reverse the trend of our shattered economy, we have to promote mechanised farming.

Mechanisation is critical for self-sufficiency in food production worldwide. We also need to invest in agriculture. The present administration is trying but they can do more.”

The government must rehabilitate Nigeria’s irrigation infrastructure. Irrigation facilities are available particularly in the northern part of the country, but needs rehabilitation to be effective.

Subsidy of inputs to farmers is very critical at this period. We know it is not sustainable, but there will be a time when farmers will no longer demand for support, but for now it is very critical to empower Nigerian farmers to be independent of government interventions.

If we revive agricultural settlements in different local governments across the country, our youths could be deployed to use agricultural settlements for farming and this would increase food production to achieve food security.

They are many ways to make this country work and we will not have need going around the world looking for where to borrow money to pay salaries, if you look at all those above sectors they are interrelated which would have help in building a formidable economic value chain

At this point, what we need is a leader who understands the working of all this industries and he’s knowledgeable enough to aggregate, rejuvenate and rebirth a working economy for all and once this happens, insecurities will be history in this country because places like Sambisa Forest will be useful in building a state of the art agricultural settlement.

This country can work what we need is just a leader, that leader who understands the how to go about it

*Ekpenyong, who represents Akwa Ibom North –West Senatorial District, writes from Abuja