The Federal Government has been urged to ensure the take-off of Ajaokuta Steel Company in Kogi State for the development of the country.

Making the call, a lecturer at the Department of Metallurgical and Material Engineering of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Prof. Eugene Nnuka, said without getting the steel complex in place, there was no way Nigeria could be aspiring to be a developed nation.

“All hands should be on deck to make Ajaokuta Steel Company work for our industries to commence serious work of developmental magnitude,’’ he said, noting that the chain reaction of the steel company’s operation would change the economy of the nation for good.

Nnuka added: “When this complex is put to work, then we can be rest assured that there will be job opportunities for our teeming youths through the chain reaction of its production. For the nation to get it right, round pegs should be put in round holes in this regard.”

He, however, said it was a matter for joy when the Federal Government declared that it would not allow any person or organisation to stand in its way of reviving the steel firm.