My 10 point plan to convert the derelict Ajaokuta Steel Plant into a ventilator manufacturing facility

By Ayo Akinfe

(1) Given that three quarters of the Ajaokuta Steel Mill is now lying abandoned taken over by weeds, rodents, wild animals and rust, I would convert it into a ventilator producing facility immediately

(2) As we all know, the whole world wants medical ventilators at the moment and Nigeria shamelessly does not produce one machine currently. We have a huge industrial complex rotting away, so we have an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. All we need is a little shame and embarrassment to spur us into action

(3) My first step would be to form a holding company. Maybe name it Nigerian Medical Supplies. The federal government would hold a 25% stake in it and then I would invite a global medical equipment manufacturer and a domestic enterpruener like Aliko Dangote to take a further 25% each, with the remainder of the company sold to the general public

(4) This company will be charged with churning out 30,000 ventilators a year to start with. Its first step will be to reconfigure the Ajaokuta production likes

(5) All steel for the venture will be supplied by the Aladja Steel Plant which must be revived

(6) All plastic for the plant will be supplied by the Dangote Petrochemical Plant in Ibeju-Lekki

(7) In exchange for supplying five years worth of plastic to the facility, I would offer Dangote Industries a 25% stake in the venture

(8) Dutch company Phillips, is a major manufacturer of medical equipment. It already has a presence in Nigeria, so would be my preferred choice as a partner. Due to the Covid crisis, the company has already doubled the number of ventilators it manufactures to 2,000 per week

(9) So chronic is the global scarcity of ventilators at the moment that New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order allowing the National Guard to take ventilators from hospitals in areas of the state that do not have a lot of cases and redistribute those in need. I would thus set a target production date of August 1 for Nigerian Medical Supplies

(10) By 2021, I would be looking to float Nigerian Medical Supplies on the Lagos, London and New York stock exchanges. My goal would be to make it the global leader on ventilator manufacturing