Towards the rehabilitation of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex, the Federal Government has completed the first phase of the ACSL thermal power plant.
The immediate past Director of Mines at the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Dauda Awojobi, who disclosed this at a training session for journalists in Lokoja, Kogi State on Wednesday, said following the rehabilitation of the plant, it had now added 22MW to the national grid.
He also disclosed that the government had created 119,532 direct employments from mid-tier operators and established 63 private minerals buying centres across the country.
The Federal Government retrieved the steel complex from the concessionaire after a legal tussle.
Awojobi also stated that the Federal Government had taken several measures to ensure security of lives and property through the controlled use of explosives by companies operating in mines and construction sectors, including the classification of ammonia nitrate as an explosive.
The ministry, according to him, has also deepened and strengthened collaboration with security agencies in order to curtail the wrong use of explosives.
Following the new architecture, user certificate to import explosives is now issued by the Office of the National Security Adviser and endorsed by the Ministry of Mines and Steel and Development, Awojobi added.
The government has also introduced the use of Close Circuit Television cameras and floodlights at night to monitor activities around where magazines are stored.
There have been concerns about the wrong use of explosives in the country. The Federal Government recently ordered the sealing off of Messrs Nigerian Development and Construction Company, an importer and seller of explosives in Koko, Delta State, over illegal diversion of the materials.
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, also ordered the blacklisting of the company and the withdrawal of its explosive licences.
