The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Prince Audu Shuaib Abubakar, Tuesday said the federal is to grow the size of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to over $1 trillion under the administration of President Ahmed Tinubu.

 He also announced that the federal government is committed to creating over 80 million jobs for Nigerian citizens in eight years, including through the steel industry.

“Under the renewed hope of President Tinubu, GCFR, one of his cardinal objectives is to grow the size of Nigeria’s GDP to over $1 trillion. And part of what we need to do to achieve that is to focus on industrialisation, which has the capacity to create hundreds of thousands and even millions of jobs,” he said. 

The minister spoke in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital during which he visited a leading steel production company, KAM Holdings Limited. 

Audu said he was in Kwara to encourage indigenous players in the steel industry, a step he noted aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu to scale up industrialisation.

Receiving the minister and his delegation, the state governor, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, urged President Tinubu to consider Kwara’s KAM Holdings Limited to take over the operation of Ajaokuta Steel Production

The governor said due to the operation of the KAM holding in the state, Kwara is arguably the second largest steel production in Nigeria today.

He said the move by the federal government to revive Ajaokuta Steel company is sacrosanct and key to the industrialisation drive.

“As you know, Ajaokuta is an albatross, and we are very confident that the company (KAM), will untie the issues there and make the industry come to fruition. When Ajaokuta was established, it was in Kwara state.

“Once again, you are welcome to Kwara. I hope you have a great time here. And the fact you will see will convince you that KAM Holdings is the right company to take over the Ajaokuta Steel Company. It will benefit our country and our state,” he said.