President of Dangote Group and Chairman of Dangote Cement Plc, Aliko
Dangote has urged Nigerians to see the current challenges faced by the
country as a passing phase which will further strengthen the country
economically in the future
Dangote who has always expressed his abiding faith in Nigeria as an
economically viable nation told a delegation of distributors from across
the country who paid him a visit in his office in Lagos that Nigeria
remains the destination of choice for investors despite the security
challenges among others.
Aliko Dangote said; “I have always said Nigeria is a good place to
investment. God has given us in Nigeria what many other countries are
searching for. We have got fertile land for agriculture, we have the
minerals resources and we have oil. All we need to do is to harness them
for our good.”
“The present challenges we face should not deter us from investing. It’s
just a passing phases. Other countries in the developed economies started
from somewhere. They all experienced some of these challenges in the past.
So I want us to see these challenges as obstacles towards attaining
greatness.”
Dangote who also explained his continued investment in Nigeria to
distributors mentioned that it was only proper for Nigerians to champion
the cause. He said “If Nigerians do not invest in their country, other
people would not come. They will want to see our success story before they
can come.” He then promised the distributors that his companies would
continue to live up to expectation to ensure that their business interests
are protected at all times and opportunities to strengthen its relation
will be fully explored, including job creation opportunities.
Dangote also informed the customers of the ongoing efforts to refine the
service being provided for the customers saying going forward the
customers would experience improved services across all its customer touch
points and delivery of its products would be seamless.
He took time to answer questions and observations raised by the
distributors who commended the business mogul for his doggedness in
investing locally as opposed to others who chose to take money away from
the country.
Also speaking at the event was his honorary Adviser, Engineer Joseph
Makoju who told distributors that Dangote Cement is more than ready to
meet and exceed their expectation saying the production capacity expansion
is intended to make cement more available and subsequently bring down the
price.
Makoju to the excitement of the distributors announced the completion of a
twenty four hour customer service escalation lines where distributors can
reach management to lodge complaint and have their issues attended to
promptly.
He said “What we are trying to do is to ensure that you grow along with
us. That is not a bad idea and I think we should commend him for that. Let
us know what your problems are, we are ready to solve them immediately.
With new production lines now on board in Ibese and Obajana, you can say
bye bye to scarcity”,
It would be recalled that Dangote Cement is adding additional two lines to
the present 6 million metric ton capacity per annum at Ibese to shore up
its capacity to 12 million while additional 3 million capacity line is
being added to Obajana plant to bring total capacity to 13.25 million tons
per annum.
Also as a part of initiatives to revolutionize agriculture under the
transformation agenda, Dangote Group signed a MOU with the Federal
Ministry of Agriculture, a deal that will ensure the provision N165
billion for rice cultivation in five states across Nigeria.