Nigeria Plans Greenhouse Farming Initiative Using Scrap Metal
The Minister of State, Steel Development Maigari Ahmadu, disclosed this during an interview on Channels TV program, monitored by environment watch. The initiative will use scrap metals from abandoned and unserviceable vessels along nation’s waterways.
The plan he said will help combat insecurity in the country like banditry in the Northwest and other forms of insecurity in the Southeast.
He said, “We have a wonderful project called the vessel to grain house initiative from vessels abandoned from all territorial waters across the country from Lagos to Bayelsa.
“We are partnering”, he said “with four indigenous steel companies to recover these vessels and turn them into greenhouses. What do we intend to do with them, to locate them around city centres to produce crops that can be grown under greenhouses to contribute towards food security.”
Also, Hon. Ahmadu stated that contrary to public opinion, the Ajaokuta steel company is not moribund, but operates at a little capacity and in the next six months, there will be significant output from the company.
He also explained that the Ministry hopes to train 100,000 Nigerians on varies aspects of steel development, metallurgy at the Metallurgical Training Institute in Onitsha, Anambra state.
The Ajaokuta Steel Mill, a multi-billion-dollar integrated steel plant established in the late 1970s and early 1980s, has faced numerous administrative setbacks hindering its operations.
The Federal Government recently announced plans to raise approximately N35 billion for the Ajaokuta Light Steel Mill by leveraging the local financial market. The Minister of Steel Development, Shuaibu Audu, has estimated that the cost of reviving the Ajaokuta steel mill will range between $2 billion and $5 billion.