From Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, has requested the National Assembly to allocate more funds to the steel sector to enable it to create more jobs for Nigerian youths and increase its contribution to the country’s revenue.
According to him, ‘government, having identified the huge opportunity emplaced therein, envisages the sector as a viable source for significantly growing the economy and causing a paradigm shift from dependence on oil as a major revenue earner for the country.’
Adegbite stated this when he led the ministry’s management on the 2022 budget defence before the House of Representatives Committee on Steel.
He told the committee that the Ministry is proposing a budget of about N23.4 billion for 2022 as against N24.4b in 2021, just as he reiterates the need for increased budgetary allocation, and if approved and funds promptly released as at when due, it will help increase the revenue of the country.
Also in his remarks, the Minister of State, Dr Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah, noted that the Ministry has moved up in revenue generation in the last nine months, from about N2 million to N6 million.
Ogah equally urged the committee to allocate more funds for the sector to enable it to contribute more to the country’s GDP
Earlier in his opening remarks, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Steel, Honorable Abdullahi Ibrahim Ali Halims, stated that the development of the Steel sector is sacrosanct while acknowledging the contribution of steel to the mining sector and revenue generation for the country.
He however pointed out that corruption and mismanagement in the past had largely affected the development of the steel sector and promised his committee’s commitment to collaborate with the ministry to move the sector forward.