As a starting point for their campaigns, all the gubernatorial candidates in Kogi and Delta states should pledge to twin Ajaokuta and Aladja with Sheffield in the UK 

Ayo Akinfe 

[1] Sheffield has ranked among the top 10 UK cities as a business location

[2 It now aims to regenerate itself as a modern technology and sports based city

[3] Sheffield has an international reputation for metallurgy and steel-making. It was this industry that established it as one of England's main industrial cities during the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries

[4] This industry used Sheffield's unique combination of local iron, coal and water power supplied by the local rivers. This fuelled a massive growth in the city's population that expanded from 60,995 in 1801 to a peak of 577,050 in 1951

[5] However, due to increasing competition from imports, Sheffield has seen a decline in heavy engineering industries since the 1960s, which has forced the sector to streamline its operations and lay off the majority of the local employment

[6] Sheffield’s steel industry now concentrates on more specialist steel-making and in 2005, produced more steel per year by value than at any other time in its history

[7] However, the industry is now less noticeable as it has become highly automated and employs far fewer staff than in the past

[8] However, a small number of skilled industrial automation engineers still thrive in Sheffield’s steel industry and today, the economy is worth over £7bn a year

[9] Just imagine what the economies of Kogi and Delta states would look like is Ajaokuta and Aladja generated £7bn today 

[10] More importantly, no nation can industrialise without steel, so we desperately need to sort this out. If you ask me, what Kogi and Delta states need are governors who see steel as a messianic mission and calling. Two individuals who will do whatever it takes to develop the sector