Dangote Cement Plc, Ibese plant, has launch a multi-million naira Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects for its host communities.
During the event tagged ‘2022 Host Community Day’, the company unveiled various empowerment programmes in skill acquisition, scholarship, farming techniques training as well as empowerment of vulnerable women in its 17 host communities.
Amid pomp and pageantry, more than 120 students from primary school to higher institutions filed out to receive their scholarship cheques, while 50 vulnerable women among them widows went home with grinding machines to support their household income.
Dangote Cement Ibese Plant equally launched its maiden issue of Community Newsletter as part of measures to intimate the people of the host communities wherever they are on developments as far as social performance record in host communities is concerned.
The traditional rulers of the host communities that graced the occasion were full of praises to the management of Dangote Cement as they joined in the unveiling of some projects already completed for the use of the people.
In the same vein, no fewer than 60 farmers were presented to the audience as having been trained in the year on Good Agricultural Practices for Maize Production in an attempt to boost agricultural production while another 30 youths are currently undergoing training on Domestic Electrification and Installation.
Speaking on the occasion, the director of Dangote Cement Ibese Plant, Mr. Azad Nawabuddin described the event as a demonstration of the company’s commitment to continuous improvement of the relationship between Ibese Plant and its host communities.
He stated that, it has been a milestone in over 10 years of existence of Ibese plant, with the cardinal objective of celebrating and appreciating our primary stakeholders for granting us the social license to operate in a sustainable manner, while also taking stock of our imprints within the calendar year.
The Ibese plant boss recalled “earlier in the year, we were able to renew our social contract with the host communities by signing a five-year Community Development Agreement (CDA), following extensive engagements and concessions with a wide spectrum of our community stakeholders.
“The new CDA provided an opportunity to review and improve our social performance approach in line with the Group and Global Standards, and to introduce new programmes, while also enhancing the existing ones.”
According to him, “this year, we embarked on a total of 21 social investment projects across the 17 host communities, in line with the thematic focus of DCP’s Social Investments; Education, Health, Infrastructure and Empowerment, and we have so far recorded remarkable progress in their implementations.”
Nawaduddin explained that the 60 farmers being trained on Good Agricultural Practices for Maize Production is to introduce the farmers to modern agriculture techniques and cutting edge technology in farming following which they were supported through land clearing, seedlings, herbicides and fertilizer provision for maize planting on a hectare of land each.
Speaking with newsmen, the Aboro of Ibeseland, Oba Rotimi Oluwaseyi Mulero thanked the management of Dangote Cement, Ibese Plant for their unrelenting efforts at impacting their host communities positively describing the social performance profile of the company as very impressive.
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