By Abdul Alabi
As part of efforts to appraise the current administration as it marks one year in office, Concerned Northern Forum (CNF), has scored the Minister of Steel Development as well as his counterparts in the ministries of Federal Capital Territory, Works and Interior high for their commitment and dedication towards the achievements of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda.
The coalition, comprising of more than 73 CSOs with millions of members is a prominent civil society organisation with a focus on the development of Northern Nigeria.
Addressing a press conference at Arewa House in Kaduna on Sunday, the coalition's national vice chairman, Concerned Northern Forum Comrade Muhammad Aminu Abbas, congratulated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his impactful one year in office and hailed his indefatigable Ministers whose performance thrilled and gave Nigerians hope for a better Nigeria.
Excerpts, "today, we are gathered to celebrate and congratulate President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR on his impactful one year in office and also to run a scorecard on some performing Ministers towards decorating the most outstanding stewards in the current cabinet who have flown high the banner of Mr. President's Renewed Hope Agenda. This is our modest way of encouraging Nigerians to imbibe the virtue of hard work and excellence.
"Having done our due diligence and evaluated all the Ministers under the administration in the period under review, we have identified true patriots who have served President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and indeed Nigerians as excellent Ministers and worthy ambassadors of the Federal Executive Council (FEC). Based on our scorecard, the following Ministers have made it on our elite list of top performers. They are; H.E. Nyesom Wike, who as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory has revolutionized the provision of infrastructure and land administration in the FCT within a short period of time in office.
"Equally deserving of accolades is H.E. Engr. Dave Umahi, Minister of Works whose giant strides in road construction including the legacy Lagos to Calabar coastal highway and Badagry to Sokoto highway as well as the ingenious use of cement for construction has drastically cut down the cost of road construction and reduced pressure on our foreign exchange. Another top performer deserving of mention is Hon. Bunmi T. Ojo, whose Interior Ministry employed innovative technology and cost saving means to clear the backlog of passport application, ushering in an era of instant passport application and collection.
The Coalition's spotlight was however, on the Minister of Steel Development, Hon. Prince Shuaibu Audu whom they described as "a youth like us, a rare breed who has demonstrated enormous capacity in the Ministry of Steel Development and has more than all the other Ministers pioneered policies and projects which have the potential for the industrialization and rapid economic development of the nation".
While appreciating President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for deploying technical parameters to measure the performance of all ministries using key indicators, an initiative championed by the office of Hadiza Bala Usman, the Coalition maintained that even though Government has done well, the people who are direct beneficiaries of these policies are equally in a position to give their perspective on the performance of Ministers and their ministries and hence their spotlight of the Honourable Minister of Steel Development.
"It is on this note that we have decided pick Hon. Prince Shuaibu Audu as our star performer amongst all the Ministers and to make our position known on the historic developments in the steel sector within the last one year and also bear witness to the fact that the Minister has performed excellently well and even beyond the expectations of Nigerians as he strives to revive the hitherto moribund steel sector including the comatose Ajaokuta Steel Complex.
"In line with the vision and blueprint of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR who is determined to stir Nigeria on the path of economic recovery and growth, the Minister has already taken steps to explore the possibility of securing up to $5 million funding from the World Bank to finance the 10-year roadmap for the steel and metals sector. This creative solutions gives hope to a sector that was unproductive due to negligence and lack of credible administrators and technocrats.
"Already, talks have been completed with Russia's TyazhPromExport (TPE) Consortium, the original equipment manufacturers and developers of the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL) with a view to exploring options available for reviving the company. This collaboration and partnership equally is also likely to attract an additional $2 billion for the revamping of Ajaokuta Steel Company. The Honorable Minister is also at the concluding stages of raising ₦35 billion (over $25 million) from local financiers for the revival of the Light Steel Mill (LSM) at Ajaokuta".
The Coalition also mentioned "plans towards the establishment of a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) park at the Ajaokuta Steel Complex in order to tap into the ₦100 billion fund set-up by the federal government, as a major step to bringing back to life, the economically viable industry as well as the reviving of steel facilities and research centres in Jos, Plateau State and the National Steel Raw Materials Agency, Kaduna".
The Coalition finally thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for appointing a promising young man who has not just performed credibly but has become a reference point to what youths can do if given the opportunity and assured Mr. President of their continued loyalty since his administration has proven to be progressive and youth centred, especially in the areas of industrialization and job creation.
"As critical stakeholders and youths who are actively involved in the political and social development of our communities, we have great confidence in this administration's capacity to create jobs and end youth unemployment and are assuring Mr. President of our continued loyalty provided Prince Shuaibu Audu remains in his cabinet. His sterling performance holds promise for other youths in successive administrations", the statement concluded.
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