Ajaokuta Steel Company: Government Dey Use Money For Salary, No Steel Production

My people, make we gather for this one wey dey happen for Ajaokuta Steel Company. E be like say government no wan hear word as dem don budget N6.04 billion just to pay workers wey no dey produce anything since dem begin this project since 1979! Na serious wah o!

According to the fresh budget wey dem propose for 2026, Ajaokuta gree collect total of N6.69 billion, but wait, make you hear am well – N6.04 billion na personnel costs alone! Wetin we go call this one na? Employee salary na true but dem no dey do the work wey dem suppose do. Na wetin dem dey call ‘ghost workers’?

This money wey them budget cover salaries, allowances, pension and nepa bills. But the overhead costs na N233.63 million, and the capital expenditure na just N410.8 million. So wetin happen to all the money wey dey go for salaries? My brother, the way dem dey share money for Ajaokuta, e be like say na just to keep the workers busy for nothing. Na free salary dem never stop to dey pay even while the machine dey rest like say na holiday.

At all the levels of this spending, no be say dem dey plan anything serious for the steel production. For 2025, dem don increase personnel spending by 44.76%. Na because Ajaokuta dey like ‘ex-soldier’ – dey collect salary from day one, but dem no fit carry gun go fight for production.

So many talk say Ajaokuta na ‘payroll institution’, and na true because we no fit see any steel wey dem don produce for the past 42 years. E be like say the government don forget say dem get company wey suppose dey produce steel. Wetin we go call this one? Omo, na big joke, na serious matter we dey talk here!

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan self don raise alarm say only 10 people dey show face for Ajaokuta. All the billions wey dem dey spend, and we still no see wetin dem dey achieve. E no go better for this kind system wey just dey waste money like say na water.

For 2026, dem still dey plan to spend N150.99 million to revive Ajaokuta, and N1.06 billion for project preparation, but everything dey look like say na story wey dem dey tell person wey wan sell market. The projects no dey link anywhere close to iron and steel production. Abeg, make we leave the moimoi and chop steel, we no wan hear tale anymore!

As time dey go, we don hear say the former president and plenty others don meet foreign companies to help revive the steel plant, but as we dey talk now, na only talk we dey see. We no wan hear say dem don enter another agreement wey no go work. We need action, not just paper plans. If dem wan go through the stress of rehabilitation, why dem no fit consider privatizing the company?

This Ajaokuta matter don turn like those parties wey dey waste money and time without fun. We dey look up make dem fit do better this time around or make dem just give way for paddy paddy to handle am. If no steel production, wetin come be the use of the company sef? Make we soft talk am na – Ajaokuta need serious help!