Resuscitating Ajaokuta Steel, ALSCON, Tinubu’s Target Legacies – Shettima

• Vice President Kashim Shettima has stated that he will use his attendance at the Africa-Russia Summit to push for the completion of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex and the reactivation of the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON)
• Shettima assured the Nigerian community in Russia that the two companies would resume operations under President Bola Tinubu’s administration

Vice President Kashim Shettima has stated that his attendance at the Africa-Russia Summit will be used to push for the completion of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex and the reactivation of the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON).

He made the remarks late Friday evening in St. Petersburg during a forum with Russia’s Nigerian community members.

The vice president assured the Nigerian community in Russia that the country would resume operations under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Shettima said;

Be rest assured that in the next 9 to 12 months there will be a swift change in the fortunes of Nigeria. I am talking with all sense of certainty and responsibility because I believe in the capacity and commitment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He emphasised that the administration was committed to repositioning the economy, adding;

We are here for the Africa-Russia Summit, but we are also here fundamentally to pursue the completion of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex and revival of the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON).

It is going to be a game changer. Having a vibrant steel industry is a sine qua non for the industrial takeoff of any country. I can promise you that the president will bring Ajaokuta to reality.

Be rest assured that if there is one legacy that President Tinubu would bequeath to fellow Nigerians, Ajaokuta is one. I will come back to Russia. We are going to drive this process, and my leader, my boss and principal, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is irrevocably committed to Ajaokuta and to ALSCON.

We have begun the discussion, and we will see to it that these two companies take off; we have no option than to bring them to reality, Vice President Shettima emphasised.

Nigeria’s Ambassador to Russia, Shehu Abdullahi, was present, as was the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mr Gabriel Aduda; the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Mrs Mary Ogbe; the president of the Nigerian Community in Russia, Dr Maurice Okoli, and the chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora (NIDO), Russia, Mr Sampson Uwem.

Shettima also attended the second edition of the Nigerian Embassy’s Annual Arts Exhibition, titled “I Imagine Nigeria,” which featured artworks by young Russian artists in ST Petersburg.