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The Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Abubakar Bwari, has identified that only vibrant steel industry can develop Nigeria’s economy.
Bwari, who added that the government was bent on diversification disclosed this while declaring open a 2-day National Steel Summit 2018 with theme, "Diversification of the Nigerian economy – the Indispensable Role of the Steel Industry" that was held in Lagos.
He stated that the country had lagged behind in terms of industrialization, which many other countries that were classified as third world countries have now joined the league of industrialised countries of the world.
Bwari said the Summit was targeted at achieving many objectives, including enhancing interaction and devising strategies for the sustainable development of the metals sector; creating a platform for dialogue between government and metals industry stakeholders as well as evolving acceptable time-bound strategies towards fulfilling the goals of developing the metals sector in Nigeria.
He said: “Considering the fact that the consumption rate of steel and other metal products is regarded as a major index of industrialisation, it is obvious that Nigeria is seriously lagging behind, even by the standard of developing nations”, he further explained.
The versatility of steel as an industrial material, Nigeria could easily join the comity of steel producing nations if the abundant iron ore resources are effectively harnessed to produce crude steel.