Dangote Cement Plc, Ibese Plant, has marked its 2023 Host Community Day in a grand style with the unveiling of four multi-million Naira empowerment schemes targeted at youths, women, farmers, and students in the company’s host communities.
At the well-attended event witnessed by traditional rulers, women, and youth leaders from the host communities, 103 indigent, and brilliant secondary and tertiary institution students across the 17 host communities were given scholarship awards and another set of 30 youths, trained on shoes, and bag-making were presented to the delight of the royal fathers.
In the same vein, the management of Dangote Cement Ibese presented 60 Weeding Machines procured for farmers to help them clear their farms with ease, given that the communities are majorly agrarian and crop planting has been their means of livelihood.
DSC,1419: Dangote Cement Ibese Plant Director, Azad Nawabuddin (left) and Permanent Secretary Ogun Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment, Dr. Aikulola Olu-Ola (right) with some of the Women beneficiaries of the Women Empowerment Scheme at the 2023 Dangote Cement Ibese plant Community Day Celebrations, held at Ibese, Ogun state.
Not less than 50 women selected from the host communities were also empowered with deep freezers to help them cope with the prevailing economic challenge in the country. Another set of 50 women was also gifted with ultra-modern grinding machines during the celebration of the maiden edition of the Community Day last year.
Recall that the Cement Company had earlier intervened in a prolonged outage in some of the communities by procuring cables and other materials needed for the restoration of electricity to the affected communities.
Speaking on the occasion held inside the cement plant’s staff estate in Ibese, the Plant Director, Mr. Azad Nawabuddin noted that the company had stepped up its social interventions, given the prevailing challenging situation across the world.
DSC 1431, L- R, Assistant Director in the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, Mines Environmental Compliance Department, Ochimana A. Matthew; Permanent Secretary, Ogun Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment, Dr. Aikulola Olu-Ola (representing the Ogun State Commissioner for Trade and Investment); General Manager, Dangote Packaging Ibese Plant, (DPL) Engr. Kizito Ugbaja; HRM, Oba Lukman Kuoye, Olu of Imosayi; HRM, Oba Kayode Adio Kushoro, Olu of Aga Olowo; HRM, Oba Daniel Abayomi Salako, Aboro of Iboro; Dangote Cement Ibese Plant Director, Azad Nawabuddin; HRM, Oba Rotimi Oluseyi Mulero, Aboro of Ibeseland standing behind some of beneficiaries of Scholarship presented during the 2023 Community Day Celebration by Dangote Cement plc, Ibese Plant in Ogun state.
According to him, businesses and families across the world and in Nigeria have been confronted with socio-economic challenges in the year 2023, pointing out that a lot has happened to test the peoples’ and organisations’ resilience and innovation, but Dangote Cement has been able to weather the storm and remained afloat mainly due to the unalloyed supports received from the host communities.
“The challenges notwithstanding, we are able to continue the upward trajectory in the delivery of our socio-economic development promises, in reciprocation and in line with our commitment to improving the overall wellbeing of our people. We have stepped up our social interventions in our host communities according to their needs and we will not shy away from making the people happy”, he stated.
1424, L- R, HRM, Oba Kayode Adio Kushoro, Olu of Aga Olowo; HRM, Oba Lukman Kuoye, Olu of Imosayi; Lukuman Olamileka, a Farmer Beneficiary; Dangote Cement Ibese Plant Director, Azad Nawabuddin; Surajudeen Ewedairo, a Farmer Beneficiary; HRM, Oba Rotimi Oluseyi Mulero, Aboro of Ibese Land and HRM, Oba Daniel Abayomi Salako, Aboro of Iboro, during the unveiling of beneficiaries of Farmers Empowerment scheme, at the 2023 Dangote Cement plc Ibese Plant Community Day Celebration held in Ibese Ogun State.
Mr. Nawabuddin said Dangote Cement’s commitment to the well-being and development of its people through intentional empowerment programmes remain unwavering, adding that the management would continue to get better in its stride to fulfill the pact it has with the host communities and to complement the efforts of the Government in improving the standard of living of the people.
Reeling out some social investments carried out during the year, the Plant Director said: “We embarked on 23 social investment projects and revamp of ten non-functional CSR projects across the 17 host communities this year, in line with the thematic focus of DCP’s Social Investments i.e. Education, Health, Infrastructure, and Empowerment, and we have so far recorded remarkable progress in their implementations.”
While describing the social performance profile of the company as very impressive, HRM, Oba Rotimi Oluseyi Mulero, Aboro of Ibese Land stated that what Dangote Cement has been doing for the people, behooves the community leaders and all the residents to reciprocate and ensure peace reigns for the good of all so that the company can do more.
Oba Mulero said, “Much as the people and community leaders are lauding the company for the giant strides in the host communities, I am also enjoining them not to rest on their oars. we are still asking for more because all these projects can never be too much for the people. Also, we want the management to consider someone from the host communities to be appointed to a management position.
“In all, Dangote Cement has done excellently well, last year we were here when grinding machines were given to our women. Today, it is freezers, the youths and the farmers are not left out. Scholarship for the indigent students, what can we say than pray to God to continue to help Dangote Cement grow more so that they can do more”, the monarch added.
In his goodwill message, the Ogun State Commissioner for Trade and Investments, Adebola Sofela, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Olu Aikulola, commended Dangote Cement for the various interventions in the form of empowerment of the people, describing the gesture as a kind of relief to the state government.
He advised the management to sustain it while describing the Chairman of the Company, Aliko Dangote as the most progressive entrepreneur in the country.
Much as the Dangote Cement is a blessing to the people, he enjoined them to maintain peace because it is only in the atmosphere of peace that the company can thrive and help the people more, adding that the Ogun state government would be ready to assist should the need arise.
Oba Kayode Kusoro, the Olu of Aga Olowo in an interview with newsmen described the Community Day as a good one as it affords the people a good opportunity to bond together with the Dangote Cement Ibese management and compare notes on the journey so far.
According to him, “the presence of Dangote Cement in the Yewa North local government area of Ogun state has marked out the area as an industrial hub.