The Dangote Sugar Refinery (DSR) has employed no fewer than 7,000 workers yearly in its Backward Integration Project (BIP) in Numan, Adamawa State.
Speaking during a media tour of the company in Numan, its group general manager, Operations, Bello Abdullahi Dan-Musa said, despite employing thousands of abled- youths as a direct employee, the company also employed more than 7,000 youths at the peak of the production season.
It should be noted that Dangote Group is Nigeria’s biggest employer of labour after the government. Only recently, the company paid over N500 million to the out-growers for the sugarcane they produced under the DSR Numan out-growers scheme.
The current capacity of the DSR Numan refinery of 4,800 Tons of Cane Per Day (TCD), he said, is being upgraded to 6,000 TCD by end of 2023, 9,800TCD by 2024 and subsequently to 15,000TCD.
Dan-Musa stated that Dangote Sugar Refinery Numan has contributed immensely in the realisation of the Backward Integration programme of the federal government.
President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, said, upon completion of the BIP projects, the sugar company will be able to create about 300,000 direct and indirect jobs, with positive multiplier effects on the national economy.
Speaking during the media tour, chief executive officer/managing director, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Chinnaya Judex, said the expansion drive has reached a significant mileage.
Judex said its Backward Integration goal is to become a global force in sugar production, by producing 1.5M MT/PA of refined sugar from locally grown sugar cane for the domestic and export markets.
He said the company operates an independent power system, and that excess energy will be redirected to the national grid.
According to him, the power, from the Dangote Sugar Refinery, Numan, when redirected to the National Grid has the potential to contribute immensely to the rapid development of the economy of the entire Northeast.
He added that the energy will bring about accelerated development and industrialisation in the region.
Meanwhile, the Paramount Ruler of Bachama Kingdom in Adamawa state, Dr. Daniel Ismailia has commended the company for its numerous Corporate Social Responsibility activities in the host communities.
He described the intervention of the company as huge, saying the presence of the company has helped bring down the rate of criminalities in the state.
The executive director, Climate Africa Media Initiative and Centre (CAMIC) Mr. Aliu Akoshile commended the Hama Bachama for providing the peaceful environment needed to do business in his domain.
The State chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Comrade Ishaka Dedan, commended the Monarch for always playing a fatherly role, adding that the Adamawa people are proud that the company has provided jobs for their people.
In his earlier presentation, Prof. John Ngamsa of Modibbo Adama University, Yola, urged journalists to invest in environmental journalism with all seriousness because the environment is man’s only protective territory.
