A Kogi delegate at the ongoing National Conference, Hajia Ladi Ibrahim, has urged the Federal Government to commence full dredging of the River Niger in order to build Ajaokuta and Lokoja ports.
Ibrahim, who made the plea in a statement made available to newsmen on Friday in Lagos said that a port in Ajaokuta would facilitate movement of the company’s raw materials and the finished products.
She said that the burden would also be less on the roads, adding that water transportation transcended the entire nation.
Ibrahim, who is a former Auditor-General in Kogi, said it had become imperative to have a seaport in Ajaokuta, pointing out that “no nation achieved industrialisation without its steel industry”.
She said that if government could complete the construction of Ajaokuta Steel Complex, a lot would be achieved towards the nation’s industrialisation.
According to her, it is a threat to the industrialized nations for any developing country to come up with its steel industry.
Ibrahim, who is the Chairman of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN), explained that the Ajaokuta Steel Complex alone could generate over 10,000 jobs for Nigerian youths.
She suggested both short and long term plans for youths that went through tertiary institutions and those that did not go to school.
A former President of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), Ibrahim said that the Federal Ministry of Education should inculcate Entrepreneurship Development in the training curriculum of all educational institutions.
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