The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr Musa Mohammed Sada, has lamented that the absence of a steel law was a huge impediment to the work of the ministry as the regulator of the sector.
Speaking in an exclusive telephone interview with LEADERSHIP on Tuesday, the minister said “there is a big problem because we as the regulators have no law empowering us to make efficient impact towards ensuring quality steel production in the nation.”
The minister said the current administration was working towards ensuring that proper regulations are created to protect the Nigerian steel sector.
“The law is critical because as it stands, there is nobody empowered to analyse the quality or content of steel made in Nigeria. Steel is produced from part scrap, but in some cases, we have observed that factories produce from 100 per cent scraps and there is nothing we can do about it because the absence of a law to that effect limits us,” he added.
The minister revealed that the ministry had visited several steel factories in the past, but maintained that the absence of a steel law hindered proper sanctioning of erring factories.
He said that the matter was being presented before the Federal Executive Council(FEC) after which it would be presented to the National Assembly to ensure the law is enacted to preserve the sector
recall that the Chairman, House Committee on Steel Development, Hon. Sadiq Asema Mohammed, had earlier expressed concern over the absence of a regulatory framework despite the massive opportunities that exist in the sector.
He said: “The federal government should have a regulatory law governing the steel sector.In Nigeria today, we do not have any law governing the steel sector apart from mining law which covers gold, diamond etc, these are the only laws we have generally and has been there since 60 it is outdated, we are now asking for a law that covers the steel sector because in mining as a whole, it is steel versus all other mining sector, that is why we have the ministry of mines and steel, because steel is so significant that you cannot just call it a mineral’’.
The lawmaker added: “We are not helping this country at all in terms of the steel sector. We believe that there must be a Metallurgical Bill, this bill is already being prepared by the ministry, the bill is the brainchild of our meeting with the ministry, we told them there was no specific steel law, which is why anybody can come to Nigeria, do whatever he likes and go away free, because there is nobody who can monitor or sanction or set a standard for steel project in this country because there is no law. People working in the steel sector have no law as to work association that supports them, then how do you develop that sector and this is a major sector where billions of naira have been put in. On the whole, federal government has spent over seven billion naira on the steel sector, how can you throw away such sector or relegate such a sector to the background, these are the things we are saying.”
For the National President of the Progressive Miners Empowerment Association (PMEA), Sunday Ekozin,the absence of a steel law was tantamount to allowing a six billion dollars investment go down the drain. According to him: “The steel law is one of the fundamental challenges which hinder the development of the sector aside the intentional neglect of the sector by government. The lack of strong legislation in the sector limits the development of the sector, because if there are strong legislations you can apply policies that will aid the development of that sector.”
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