Over $35bn Needed To Implement Concrete Road Construction As FG Eyes Funding From Commercial Banks

David Umahi, the Minister of Works has disclosed that to commence the construction of concrete roads across the country, the sum of $35bn must be made available.

Umahi said this when he met with the Minister of Steel Development, Shuaibu Audu, at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja in a statement signed by Orji Uchenna the Chief Press Secretary.

This is as Umahi stated that the moribund Ajaokuta steel company will provide 16 per cent of the steel materials needed for the construction of concrete pavement on the roads.

Umahi said, “How do we reactivate the Ajaokuta Steel. We are going into the concrete road, in this concrete road, about 16 per cent of it is from steel while 30 per cent is cement. We need a lot of money to start but we decided to face it and God has given us an idea.

“We need about $35 billion to start. If we start waiting for FG it might become difficult. We analyzed the Return on Investment and the profit we could have made, part of it will go to bank interest. We are looking at a partnership with a commercial bank but Federal Executive Council has to endorse it. If this could be done, it means Mr President is living up to his words and this is going to be possible.”

According to the statement, “tapping into the opportunities in the steel industry would create jobs and wealth for Nigerians and encourage global market industrialisation.

“One of the renewed hope agenda of Mr President is to think outside the box, Mr President inherited a large chunk of debt from the past administration, the beauty about it is that he is not complaining, he knew how the country was before he took the job and how it is. The good thing is that if you have passion for something God will give you an idea.”

He also assured the steel minister of his support to enhance the potentialities of the Ajaokuta Steel Plant.

Reacting to the development and confirming his cooperation, Audu said, “We are to achieve three things, to create job opportunities for Nigerians as a whole, two, to ensure that the corridor around the North Central Zone and the Ajaokuta-Warri axis is busy with activities and thirdly, the plant has been inactive for close to four decades and we are here to restart the plant within the shortest possible time.”