HOST communities of the Delta Steel Company, Ovwian, Aladja, have threatened to take over the land, equipment and facilities of the plant should the Nigerian government allow the return of the Indian Steel magnate, Pramod Mittal, to the company.
There are indications that Mittal Brothers, trading under the name: Global Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (GINL), who lost the plant following the cancellation of its sale to them in 2008 by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua for alleged assets stripping, are now mobilising to re-take the plant.
In an open letter signed by key stakeholders, the Otota of Udu Kingdom, Chief Sam Odibo, on behalf of the 32 communities that make up Udu, warned that while the people might not be against privatisation, they would not guarantee peace if Mittal Brothers returned to take over the company.
“If for any reason the management led by Pramod Mittal is allowed to take over Delta Steel again, the host communities of Ovwian and Aladja will take over the entire land, including places occupied by the company’s staff quarters.
“In short, the host communities are determined not to allow any access to the promoters of Delta Steel under any circumstances in the future,” the statement read.
Also opposed to the return of the GINL to Warri was Dr Sanusi Mohammed, Executive Secretary of African Iron and Steel Association, who was quoted in the media citing the failure of the company in Ajaokuta.
“The GINL was brought in as concessionaires to Ajaokuta but failed to resuscitate the Ajaokuta Steel Company that was provided to them after the investments of a $5 billion,” he said.
He lamented that Delta Steel Company was also sold to Pramod Mittal owned GINL for a paltry $30 million, whereas the Federal Government had already pumped in $1.5 billion into the plant at the time of the sale.
The sales of the company then was alleged to be mired in controversy, as Senate ad hoc committee probing the privatisation deals of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) was reportedly displeased with the sale of the steel company to GINL.
The development had prompted the recommendation by the committee that the sale of the company be reversed.
Nigerian steel industry, for several decades now, is in a state of acute under-development, though the country had vast iron ore reserves and surging demand for steel.
Industry stakeholders have, therefore, expressed their concerns and had tasked concerned authorities to resist any efforts of compromise and re-entry by GINL into Nigeria’s steel industry.
[Tribune]