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Determined to curtail over-reliance on oil, Minister for
Mines and Steel Development, Alhaji Sarafa Tunji Ishola, has
assured that Nigeria would soon become one of the leading
countries in the production of coal and bitumen.
Ishola
dropped the hint in a chat with THISDAY in Abeokuta , where
he said if Nigeria fails to achieve this objective before
the expiration of President Umar Yar'Adua's tenure, he
should be called a liar.
"I want to assure Nigerians and I want you to take me up on
this, that before the end of this administration, Nigeria
will become bitumen producing country. That is one of the
challenges given to me, we are going to achieve this by
God's grace," Ishola said.
According to him, plans are on the pipeline to launch a
policy thrust tagged, "Mines and Metals," in line with the
Manitesto of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), including NEEDS
and Financial Service Strategy, to make Nigeria become one
of the greatest world economy in the year 2020.
On Ajaokuta Steel, he said he had visited the place and
discovered that production was going on effectively, adding
that the company would be re-energised to meet the needs of
Nigerians and the outside world.
"I was at Ajaokuta during the week, I saw the iron rod being
produced. It is in fact challenging, but the challenges are
the fact that government has been directly involved in the
production. Now, we are going into government being the
administrator and regulator of the sector and leave its
operation to the private sector," he said. |
