Communities Benefit From Dangote Employee-led Sustainability Initiatives
BACKLASH RETURNS ON SUNDAY
DPlc (DCP) sustainability teams from Obajana, Ibese and Gboko cement plants embarked on social investment programmes directed towards health care, education, and environmental sanitation in their host communities during the company’s sustainability week, 2018. The Sustainability Week, which spanned five days, was simultaneously held across Africa.
In Lagos, where the Dangote Group is headquartered, Sustainability Champions – which now number 500 persons across the business - embarked on the cleanup of Oniru block-makers village in Victoria Island; environmental sanitation of Anjorin Market, Apapa by Apapa Greenville; and the Isolo community clean-up by the Isolo Depot Team of Dangote Cement.
Offshore business units of the company initiated various activities: a beach clean-up and tree planting in Tema by DCP Ghana; hospital sanitation and clean-up in Bounsa by DCP Congo; educational outreach programmes in Douala by DCP Cameroon; and Dangote Cement Ethiopia Plc constructed additional block for Ula Gora School, Ethiopia.
The Dangote Sustainability Vision is built on 7 Sustainability Pillars called “The Dangote Way”. The Dangote Sustainability Week, according to the DCP Group Managing Director, Engr. Joe Makoju; “is built on the premise that sustainability must be owned and practiced by employees at every level of the organisation, and powered by the highest levels of institutional governance.”
Chief Sustainability & Governance Officer of Dangote Group, Dr. Ndidi Nnoli, said: “For us at Dangote, Sustainability means living in harmony with our communities and natural environment. We believe our people and our businesses have a lot to give but also much to learn from the rich heritage of cultures in Africa. As a company, we are committed to building sustainable local economies in the communities and markets where we operate.”
The Chief Operating Officer of DCP, Mr. Arvind Pathak, remarked that “the positive and life-transforming impact of Dangote Sustainability Champions across the African Continent during the recently held Sustainability Week surpassed all of our expectations and we are committed to doing more.” Across Nigeria, employees and Sustainability Champions of the Dangote Cement Plant came out dressed for work alongside community members to improve the quality of life for ordinary citizens.
In Gboko, Benue State staff initiated a road rehabilitation, which had long been in disrepair. At Obajana, Kogi State, the company rehabilitated and donated clinical equipment to the Obajana Community Clinic; while the sustainability term at Ibese engaged in the donation of cash and equipment to enterprising women in the agrarian host community of Ajibawo, 3km away from the Ibese Cement Plant.
Employees and Management also embarked on a tree planting programme in Obajana Community near the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Secondary school; and a clinic rehabilitation programme, which involved an extensive internal and external clean-up, including the repair of leaking roofs and non-functional toilets.
They revived all electrical fittings and wiring, replaced the non-functional generator set, painted the building, inside and out, and provided useful clinical equipment. Beyond renovating the community clinic, the company also fixed the road leading to the clinic.
The Oba of Obajana, Dr. Idowu Isenibi, who graced the handover of the rehabilitated facility publicly appreciated the steps initiated by Dangote Employees and Management, which will benefit the community, and most especially its women and children, as a great leap forward in the stakeholder-oriented delivery of community services.
Oba Isenibi in his address expressed appreciation to the company and urged Dangote Cement to undertake more such community-needs driven projects for the benefit of the community at large.
The team spirit was boosted at the Ajibawo community in Ibese, Ogun State, when Ms Mariam Aliko Dangote visited the community in person during the Sustainability Week, in alignment with the United Nation Global Day of Action.
In response to the 2018 Ibese Cement Plant Employees Sustainability Initiatives for the Week, fully supported by top management, Martinez and Padayachee, Ajibawo community expressed their satisfaction and appreciation to Dangote Industries Limited for donations during the 2018 Dangote-ibese Sustainability Week.
There were free medical health checks organised for the host community and provided by Novia Hospital, a supplier to Ibese Cement Plant; while locally made cassava frying pots were donated to the agrarian women as part of a wider economic empowerment programme. Cash donations were also made to several enterprising women within the community to aid local farming activities.
The Dangote Initiative to involve employees and communities in its Sustainability journey marks the beginnings of an increasingly stakeholder-oriented approach to enable sustainable local economies in the future.