“While retarded Nigerian adults burdened by the yoke of hunger , poverty, insecurity and tribal emotions, cheered and applauded, taking a loan of 746 million pounds to upgrade the same congested seaports in Lagos is a joke when you realise that the yams eaten in the UK are from Ghana, a far smaller Nation with a far less yam supply.”
Response from Chinemerem Nwachukwu
Let’s put it in context, The UK imports 70% of its steel. It was 60% a year or two ago.
So in effect, they are becoming more dependent on others for it.
Nigeria has in abundance Iron ore, the natural element needed to produce steel.
Our reserves are estimated at 3 billion metric tonnes.
Refining 5 million metric tonnes annually(translating to $2.3 billion) means it would take ~ 375 years to run out of reserves.
We are that blessed!
Sadly, like we used to do with crude oil..by exporting it and importing refined products, exactly the same is done with Iron ore.
In 2024 and 2025 , Nigeria exported a combined amount of iron ore worth 9.5 million dollars mostly to China.
Guess what the value of that same amount would be if we refined it into steel- 60 million dollars!!
So we sell to China, collect 10 million dollars then China refines to steel worth 60 million dollars, most of not all of which we buy back.
Madness!
A well developed steel sector in Nigeria has the capability to earn us 6 billion dollars annually from Ajaokuta alone.
It can save us 4 billion dollars of scarce FOREX we currently use in importing it.
Do you know the effect of that on our exchange rate?
Oil currently contributes 2.5% to our GDP.
Steel can contribute 5% or more to our GDP, from its export and local supply alone!
Because steel plays a major part in the industrialisation of any economy, most likely second only to power, it further contributes to 32% of our GDP from all the business in sectors that depend on it- automobiles, electronics, industrial machines etc
If we were a serious people, it would be Keir Starmer in Aso Rock negotiating how to get cheaper steel from us.
That aside, taking a loan of 746 million pounds to upgrade the same congested seaports in Lagos is a joke when you realise that the yams eaten in the UK are from Ghana, a far smaller Nation with a far less yam supply.
What are the reasons? 1. Nigerian yams have been deemed substandard because of the pesticides used and poor storage.
- It’s very difficult, if not impossible to export time sensitive food produce from Lagos compared to Ghana.
These point to administrative and logistical failure NOT necessarily because ports need to be expanded.
Infact, I can assure you that if these tiny bottlenecks are cleared, half the goods held up at those ports would disappear.
If any ports needed to be expanded or upgraded, it is the eastern ports!!
If Onne and PH ports are expanded to cater to non-oil business, Lagos would free up faster.
If Nigeria as a nation and NOT Yorubaland was truly top of mind for Tinubu, that loan should be going straight to fund the Ibaka deep seaport project.
It’s all propaganda that the eastern waterways are not safe and any ports there would be nonviable. Lies!
Apparently, I just found out that of the 100% of Non-Oil imports to Nigeria, 30% go straight to Onne/PH powered mostly by Igbo importers who are frustrated with the difficult challenges in Lagos ports.
70% touchdown in Lagos. Out of a 100% of the 70, 40% remains in Lagos, 35% heads to the Kano/Kaduna industrial base and 25% again head to the SS/SE axis.
Effectively, ~ 40% or more of ALL Non-Oil imports end up in the SS/SE.
Does this Data not prove viability?
No sane and informed person who understands these things would get excited at the “cut throat” business deals masked as tea drinking events with British royalty.
Instead, it’s an opportunity for sober reflection.
The above is a comment from Chinemerem Nwachukwu in a post made by Dr Obinna Aligwekwe.
