Dangote Cement Plc has introduced a new Internship Scheme for university students across the country, offering a fully funded one-year internship program.
According to the Dangote Cement Lagos Regional Sales Director, Mr. Tunde Mabogunje, during the induction of pioneer students of Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, the scheme has been designed to provide practical and hands-on-the-job experience for excellent Engineering students in higher institutions across Nigeria.
Mabogunje explained that the scheme was part of Dangote Cement’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and it offers a unique opportunity for engineering students to apply the knowledge they’ve gained in classrooms and laboratories to real-world situations. By combining their academic learning with practical and on-field training, students will emerge as well-rounded engineers.
“We are kicking off this phase of the scheme in Lagos and Kano States. A total of 20 students are involved with 10 students selected from each of the two states. In selecting the interns, we wrote to the authorities of Yaba College of Technology and Kano Polytechnic requesting for the list of the best performing students in Building Studies.
“We are to train the selected students on the right application of cement with specific reference to Dangote Cement in accordance with Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) prescriptions. The interns are to be deployed to various building project sites while technical officers from Dangote Cement will be on the ground to monitor them,” Mobogunje said.
The Dangote Cement boss pointed out that the project underscores the company’s belief that acquisition of vocational and technical skills is vital to the well-being of any sector in particular and the economy as a whole.
“They are vital prerequisite for growth. However, dearth of vocational and technical skills has had an adverse effect on the building sector. This internship programme is apt and a major step in the right direction towards addressing the gap. As trainees gain practical field experience, they will be well-prepared to become well-rounded professionals and make significant contributions to the industry.
“At Dangote Group, we are committed to providing vocational training to young Nigerians to equip them with a range of valuable skills. To address gaps in some of our plants, we recruited graduates from engineering and technology-based programmes and trained them in various aspects of industrial operations. These technicians were subsequently deployed to our plants in Obajana, Ibese, Gboko, as well as our sugar and salt refineries in Apapa and Ikeja. They have demonstrated that, with the right training and orientation, young Nigerians excel in every assignment they undertake.
“For our oil refinery and fertiliser plant, we recruited hundreds of graduates of Engineering based courses and sent them abroad for training. This set of professionals are now running the new plants and are training other sets of engineers through skill transfer.
“We provide vocational training programmes for our host communities. The youths are veritable assets in any society and the quality of the youths determines the outlook of tomorrow’s society. Therefore, an investment in developing vocational skills among youths will yield the desired results,” he stated.
The Rector of Yaba College of Technology, Dr. (Engr.) Ibraheem Adedotun Abdul, in his remark, commended Dangote Cement management for the scheme, describing it as a landmark achievement in Corporate Social Responsibility.
He expressed happiness that Yaba College of Technology has been chosen as a pioneer institution for the scheme and assured that the participating students from the institution would live up to expectations and the scheme will achieve its objective of bridging the gap between academic performance and practical experience.
The Rector pointed out that the program would expose the students to practical aspects of their field of studies so that when they finished school, they would have acquired the necessary skills that would make them take off as professionals with ease.
