Ajaokuta Steel Company of Nigeria and concession: counting the human cost, 2003-2010

Abstract

Beginning from the 1980s, the Nigerian state has promoted and encouraged the liberalisation and commercialisation of production and distribution processes in tandem with liberal capitalism. The adoption of concession policy in the Ajaokuta Steel Company was therefore believed to be the key to the development of the industry, the bedrock of industrialisation in Nigeria. However, in the face of stark reality of deepening crisis in Ajaokuta Steel Company, concession became a chimera to its development. The extent of the correlation between the concession and the plight of the company’s staff is explored in this paper.