According to Mr. Khalil Halilu, Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Nigeria cannot afford to shut down the multibillion-dollar Ajaokuta Steel Company (ASC), since the country cannot industrialise without a steel foundation.

He discussed his One-Year of Fast-Tracking the Renewed Hope Vision for Nigerian Industrialisation during a meeting with media executives in Abuja on Wednesday.

“As a nation, we cannot industrialise without a steel backbone,” he said. The Ajaokuta Steel Company is therefore essential to our economy.

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According to Mr. Halilu, his company has created a plan for the resuscitation of Ajaokuta Steel Company.

He claimed that the roadmap was the result of a quick evaluation of the moribund plant conducted by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) to determine its current condition. The report was given to the president along with the necessary suggestions on the best course of action for bringing it back into operation.

“I stand at the crossroads of helping to implement President Tinubu’s bold but achievable vision of a rapid and sustainable industrial revolution,” Mr. Halilu stated in his capacity as Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of NASENI. Due to a number of misguided policies and temporary solutions that simply served to cover up more serious problems, Nigeria’s economy has been limping along for far too long.

Just over a year ago, just before I took office, President Tinubu told demonstrators in August 2024 that his administration had reached a turning point: it realised that a variety of band-aid fixes were no longer sufficient. It was time for a radical change, a daring rethinking of how Nigeria would address our enduring problems.

“NASENI is leading a number of important projects as Nigeria approaches its own industrial rebirth today. We have gone from merely imagining an industrial boom future to actually constructing it in the last year.

“We already have 35 market-ready products in our portfolio, ranging from low-cost solar lights that can power our streets to advanced agriculture technology that may help Nigerian people put food on the table more easily. These are solutions to the pressing problems of food security and energy availability, not just items.

The EVC disclosed that his team had advanced Nigeria’s industrialisation efforts, repositioned NASENI with the 3Cs: Creation, Collaboration, and Commercialisation, and introduced the Accelerated Technology Transfer Framework, all while increasing the organization’s valued investments to $3.25 billion.

According to the EVC, the agency’s other significant accomplishments included the construction of a tractor assembly facility in the nation to support mechanised farming, which is thought to be essential to addressing the present issues with the nation’s food supply and guaranteeing food security.

Regarding its sustainable energy projects, Mr. Halilu stated that NASENI has created a Solar Light Fixtures Manufacturing Factory and off-grid solar lights.

He went on to say that the organisation had created laptops and mobile smart gadgets that were made in Nigeria and were awaiting bulk purchase so that Nigerians could acquire them.

According to the head of NASENI, the organisation has created the biggest CNG Reverse Engineering Centre in Nigeria, which he stated is very effective and has significantly aided the nation’s efforts to use clean energy.

According to him, NASENI has also produced smart meters domestically, established a biotechnology factory, set up a facility for the production of assistive technology devices, manufactured defence equipment, recovered and repaired aircraft, and established an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Training School.

Mobile phones, lithium batteries, CCTV solar street lights, smart meters with three and two phases, e-tricycles, power storage devices, solar lights, solar LED wall lights, solar home solutions, solar lamps, power stoves T500, 1100, and x200, 3-inch solar pumps, NASENI EV, EV pickup, Android smartphones, 14-inch laptops, 10-inch Android tablets, science kits, and hatchboxes are among the products that Mr. Halilu listed as being ready for the market.