The PCFRR, which was established by the Federal Government following the 2012 flooding, is co-chaired by Africa’s foremost industrialist Aliko Dangote and Dr. Olisa Agbakoba.  

The flagging off ceremony for the relief materials distribution for this year started in Borno State and was conducted by the State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum Tuesday in Maiduguri, Borno State capital. The Governor thanked the Dangote Flood Committee and promised that he will ensure that the items get to the victims.

UNICEF revealed that the 2022 flood killed 600 people, displaced 1.3 million and destroyed more than 82,000 homes in Nigeria, therefore making it the worst in decades.   

The Representative of the Dangote-led Presidential Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation (PCFRR), Alhaji Umar Musa Gulani assured at the flagging off for the Northeast zone that the exercise would also be conducted in the other five geopolitical zones of the country.

Gulani said the items from the Committee have been officially handed over to the Borno State Government and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). He said the exercise would be conducted across the six geo-political zones, beginning from the northeastern State of Borno.   

The breakdown of items donated includes 86 bags of rice, 34 bags of beans, 34 bags of maize, 34 bags of millet, 34 bags of Guinea Corn, 34 bags of Garri, 86 cartons of noodles, 86 cartons of spaghetti, 86 cartons of macaroni and 86 bags of sugar, and 857 bags of cement, among several food and non-food items.   

Gulani said over N10 billion has been expended by the committee to mitigate the effect of flooding since inception in 2012, adding that no fewer than 84 Hostels have been built for flood victims in 24 states of Nigeria. According to him: “This private sector led project is highly commendable and it has been sustained in the past ten years. It is a selfless service from the private sector and Nigerians should appreciate their selfless service to humanity”

Director General of NEMA Alhaji Mustapha Habib Ahmed described the Committee’s intervention as a milestone for Nigeria in general, and flood victims in particular. “Responding to the humanitarian outcomes of this nature requires concerted effort,” the DG said, and added that the donation by the Dangote Flood Committee would eventually be made available to flood victims across the affected states in Nigeria.   

Speaking on behalf of the victims, Khalifa El-Miskin said the victims were extremely appreciative of the gesture. 

It would be recalled that the Committee also recently, during the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, donated N1.5 billion to fight the virus. Announcing the donation, Dangote said it was imperative for well-meaning Nigerians to help the Federal Government in fighting the virus.

The Committee also recently provided N250 million as relief assistance to victims of the devastating floods in Benue State. Aside from the donation in Benue, the Dangote-led committee also revealed that it had also donated the sum of N150 million (in kind) to provide relief assistance to flood victims in Anambra State.

It also released the sum of N118 million to NEMA to augment the N1.6 billion released by the Federal Government for procurement of food and non-food relief materials in aid of the flood victims in the following 16 states: Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Abuja FCT, Kebbi, Kwara, Lagos, Niger, Ondo, Oyo, Plateau, and Sokoto.

It would be recalled that the Committee at its inauguration by former President Goodluck Jonathan raised a whopping N11.35 billion for flood victims. Top on the list of donors at the event was Dangote and the Federal Government, who donated N2.5 billion each.

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Over 500 Government Vigilantes invaded the Dangote Cement Plant located at Obajana on Wednesday at the behest of the State Governor and forcefully shut down its operations. 

Cement trucks were also burnt, and many others were vandalized, as they forcefully hijacked Dangote buses and vans. 

Market and business activities have been brought to a standstill since the attack was launched.  

“No fewer than 27 Dangote staff are currently in bad conditions after they were shot at by the invaders,” a statement from the company said. 

The control rooms were forcefully shut down and equipment whose monetary value have not been computed was vandalized. Communication cords were also severed to bring production to an abrupt halt.  

The marauding invaders also blocked the roads, distorted vehicular movement, and restrict the movement of people all around Obajana. 

“Since the criminal attack, our vehicles carrying diesel have been attacked along Anyigba road,” the statement from the company said. 

The victims of the Government sanctioned invasion are currently admitted to the emergency section of the Kogi State Specialist Hospital in Lokoja. 

Mr. Tijani Mukhtari, 45, who was shot severally in the lower abdomen and in other parts by the invading Government’s thugs, is currently battling for his life, as health workers who were seen attending to him said he was slated for emergency surgery. 

Mr. Mukhtari was having difficulty breathing when this reporter visited him, as he was experiencing extreme pain from the bullets lodged in his body. 

In the same vein, Aminu Sarki, 43, a fleet officer at the Transport section of the Dangote Cement Plant, who was shot in the leg, condemned the act as illegal and criminal in nature. 

Narrating his ordeal, Mr. Sarki said he was inside his office when a strayed bullet pierced through and hit him on the leg. 

He said: “Because of loud gunshots by the governor’s boys, I was just hiding inside our office at the PTI when the bullets hit me and got lodged inside my legs.” 

Mr. Sarki called on the Federal Government to intervene quickly and help stop the excesses by the Kogi State Governor and his thugs. 

Narrating his tribulation, 21-year-old Isyaku Adamu, one of the victims who was also shot, described the invasion as barbaric and nasty. 

He called on both the company and the government to resolve the conflict in the interest of the masses who will be most affected. 

Most market men and women who spoke to this reporter said the invasion by the government has not only affected the company, the markets have virtually been closed down too because there were no customers. 

Peter Dare, a businessman at the Obajana main market described the situation as worrisome. He said thousands of people will be impoverished if the company is not opened this week. 

Madam Esther, a tomato seller, wondered why the government was insensitive to the plight of the masses, describing the government as the worst in the history of Kogi State.  

“The governor will not give us the job. Now that we are doing petty businesses, they are closing down the company that is helping us,” she retorted.

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The AfDB boss, who was on a tour of Dangote refinery and fertiliser projects over the weekend with the board members of the bank, described Aliko Dangote as an enigma, who should be honoured in Africa and even beyond for his passion, vision, and determination to develop and ensure that Africa, as a continent, is out of the poverty circle; with his aggressive employment generation scheme across most African countries.

According to him: “One of the things I admire the most about Alhaji Dangote is that, he actually believes in Nigeria, and he invests his money in Nigeria. He believes in Africa and invests in Africa. Nobody could invest the type of billions of dollars that is here, unless the person not only has the vision but also the commitment and passion for his country. We are extremely proud of you and of your commitment to the continent.

“Aliko is quite an inspirational and visionary business leader and for anybody to have done what I have seen here, I think that person deserves world class kudos for that… I see a company that I will proudly call Africa’s growth accelerator company. With this project, we see an acceleration of how to reduce imports. We see an acceleration on how to have an outbound on export; a value chain development and how to compete regionally and globally”, the top banker said.

“I am completely blown away with what I saw here today…I can’t believe what I saw…this project will reverse the huge sum the nation spends on foreign exchange…when you look at how much we import, it is about $57 billion worth of different products and we export only about $50.4bn, so we have to balance that with about $7bn and talking to them here, they showed us that they can have a domestic market of about $11bn and that is an incredible market and that will save Nigeria about $9 billion dollars, a year from importing petroleum products, so this is huge for Nigeria and even for Africa as a continent,” Adesina enthused.

On the fertiliser complex, he said, “being a man passionate about agriculture, this is a company that is producing three million metric tonnes of urea, which will make Nigeria totally self-sufficient”, and added that, “Nigeria will become net exporter of fertilisers. It will drive productivity growth in Nigeria, prices will come down and the quality will also improve.”

While thanking the AfDB team for their visit to the Plants, President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote said, “The Refinery will commence operation by the third quarter of 2022. On the mechanical completion, we are almost finished but we have started hydro testing, almost 70% gone, hopefully before the end of Q3 operation will commence.”

Group Executive Director, Strategy, Portfolio Development & Capital Projects, Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin said the refinery complex, which includes a refinery, petrochemical plant, a fertiliser plant, and a subsea pipeline project, is the largest single-train refinery in the world.

He stated that the 650,000 barrels-per-day refinery would stimulate economic development in Nigeria. According to Edwin, Dangote Petroleum Refinery can meet 100% of the Nigerian requirement of all liquid products (Gasoline, Diesel, Kerosene, and Aviation Jet), and also have surplus of each of these products for export.

He stated that this would create a market for $11 billion per annum of Nigerian crude and foreign exchange savings/earnings $9.9 billion. He noted that “we have impacted on job creation with 3,580 Nigerian personnel on-site, excluding employment by the various contractors and subcontractors at the site.”

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Emir Bayero, who visited the Dangote pavilion at the ongoing Kano International Trade Fair and was visibly elated by the company’s profile, had in his entourage Council members of the Kano Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KACCIMA) as well as other traditional rulers in the state.

The Emir also commended the Kano Government, the KACCIMA, and other participating companies in the 42^nd Kano International Trade Fair which will close on Saturday, December 11, 2021.

Emir Bayero said he is very happy with Dangote Group even with the world-class Refinery currently under construction saying the project is timely given the challenges the country and businesses are facing.

According to him: “We have visited the Trade Fair, and we are happy with development so far despite the economic situation around the world. May Allah support our effort.”

The Emir’s visit came just as Ganduje also visited the company’s pavilion and spoke glowingly of Dangote Group’s President Aliko Dangote.

The Governor who was represented by the Commissioner of Commerce and Industry, Ibrahim Mukhtar said the contributions of Dangote to Kano and indeed Nigeria, in the areas of industrialization and job creation, cannot be quantified.

Speaking earlier, during his own visit to the Dangote pavilion, Ugandan Envoy to Nigeria, Ambassador Nelson Ocheger, described Dangote as an ‘African jewel’ and an institution, whose indirect support to African political leaders in the areas of job creation and industrialization are impacting positively on peace and stability on the continent.  

President of KACCIMA, Dalhatu Abubakar, described as apt the theme for this year’s 42^nd Trade Fair, which is: Consolidating the Challenges of Covid-19 pandemic to opportunities growth and development of micro, small and medium enterprises in Nigeria.

Deputy President and Chairman of Trade Fair Committee, Uba Tanko Mijinyawa said the Dangote Group has been a partner all through, even as he extolled its charity works through the Aliko Dangote Foundation(ADF).

Speaking to newsmen, the Director-General of the KACCIMA, Mustapha M. Aliyu commended the Dangote Group for the partnership and sponsorship of the Trade Fair.

He described the relations between the duo as mutual and supportive. “We appreciate his efforts and support to the socio-economic growth of Africa,”  the Director-General added.

A statement from the Dangote Group said companies participating under the Dangote Industries Limited are: Dangote Cement, Dangote Sugar, NASCON, and Dangote Fertiliser even as it disclosed that the company has slated Friday, December 10, 2021, for its Special Day at the Fair.

Dangote Group urged participants who seek to do business with any of the company’s subsidiaries, to avail themselves of such opportunities through Special Desks at its pavilion.

It described Kano State as one of its biggest markets in the country, adding that it has historically been a major trade route not only in Nigeria but in Africa as a whole.

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Speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF), Rabiu Umar, the Commercial Operations Officer, Dangote Group, said aside from the fixing of infrastructure deficit, ease of payments and settlements, are sacrosant for trade to thrive among African countries.

In the course of his interview on Arise TV, where he made this known, Umar maintained that to realise the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreements, trade deficit, settlement, and ease of payments challenges must be properly addressed.

“It’s a very difficult process. It is not just about the road transport or the quality of the roads you have. We don’t have a rail system and of course, you know, road transportation is very expensive. The second part is the tariffs, the systems, and the process, the bureaucracy.

“So for us to get to where we need to get to, I think the key condition is to remove these barriers to trade, the biggest one being infrastructure, you need the infrastructure to move goods across the second part of it, you need to cut out the red tape, from a diplomatic perspective, from a customs perspective, from even a payment settlement perspective, which is one of the things the Afreximbank has done with the settlement system among the African countries meaning that you are kind of dollarising the economies of these countries,” he stated in an interview on Arise TV monitored by unmaskng.com.

Continuing, ecstatic Umar noted that since AfCTA has come into play, there has been a renewed interest in Dangote Group and Nigeria from other African countries.

“The trade barriers highlights a lot of issues around infrastructure, around diplomacy, around ports. For example, if you take the port situation, you may get your goods to the port and it takes such a long time. If I give the example of Nigeria to get them out of the country or into the country.

“I was on a panel Thursday and someone from South Africa said it’s cheaper to move goods from Durban to China than from Durban to Cape Town. So, the challenges are not just related to a particular region, they’re all across.

“Bringing down these barriers will mean that goods and services can move much more freely and that will definitely give us a competitive advantage on the continent from one country to another,” he said as he explained what he meant by the renewed interest.

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