The Vice Chairman of KAM Industries, Hajia Maryam Bolanle Yusuf, on Monday urged Federal government to ensure that its policies should be geared towards encouraging the development of steel industries due to its numerous impacts in economic development.
She stated this in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital while receiving in audience delegation of top military officers of the National Defence College, Abuja, who are on a Strategic Working Tour to KAM Industries Nigeria Limited.
According to her, “Your visit will allow for sound institutional and organizational analysis of the issues which is critical to designing and implementing development projects, enrichment of policy dialogue and coordinating development efforts in the country.
“We appreciate the fact that if development practitioners are to carry out more implementation, they need better skills and informed platform to do so. You will agree with me that tours like this are very important.”
The Vice Chairman who is also a Fellow of the African Institute of Enterprise further stressed that, “A look at the trend of steel industries worldwide shows that the big economies of the world produce and consume large quantities of steel whereas economies including Nigeria have low steel production and consumption capacities. Therefore, steel production and consumption is an index of development.”
She however emphasized that, “Given the great potentials of steel materials and how it is impacting on the economies of the advanced nations, one would naturally expect that government policies will encourage its development so that Nigeria can belong to the class of large economies.”
“During you tour of our facilities, you will have the opportunity to see our Wire Product Factories, the Continuous Galvanizing Lines, Our Cold Roll mill, the Stone Coated Roofing Sheets factory, the Packaging Units and the Logistics Company. The new project of Steel Melt Shop and Rolling Mills designed to process 200, 000 metric tons per annum of raw materials is under construction”, she added.
In his remarks, the Director of Information and Communication Technology, National Defence College, Abuja, Air Commodore Sunday Makinde, reiterated the need to diversify Nigeria’s economy and focus more on extraction as means of boosting the nation’s economy and also create jobs.
Air Commodore Makinde who observed that there are over thirty (30) privately owned steel industries spread across Nigeria stressed that KAM industries has been adjudged as the largest being a solely owned private steel business enterprise in the nation.
He however expressed concern over high tariff rates, multiple taxation among others as part of the factors militating against industrialization in Nigeria stressing that KAM Industries should be cautious of the fact that there are many competitors and not relent in its efforts of maintain the giant in the steel industry sector.
