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Dangote Cement Re-trains Truck Drivers for Operational Efficiency
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
To boost operation efficiency, Dangote Cement Plc has organised a training session for its truck drivers at an event tagged 2025 Annual Drivers’ Retreat.
The training exercise for the drivers at its factory in Ibese, Ogun State, took place in Ilaro, with over 900 drivers in attendance. Another extensive re-training exercise for more drivers has been scheduled to take place in Obajana, Kogi State next week.
The Managing Director of Dangote Cement, Mr Arvind Pathak, said the cement giant was committed to training and constant retraining of its truck drivers for safe driving across Nigeria.
He emphasised that as a leading cement manufacturer with thousands of trucks in its fleet, safety on the road remains the company’s core mandate, noting that the essence of the yearly training is to remind the drivers of the core values of the brand and ensure that they are all committed to the Absolute Safer Road Policy of the Group.
Mr Pathak reaffirmed the company’s commitment to road safety, transparency, appropriate ethical conduct, and provision of detailed clarity on the comprehensive systems and procedures to mitigate against any incident along roads across the country.
According to him, Dangote Cement is a responsible organisation that consistently cooperates with the police and other relevant authorities in the investigation of reported incidents with support of all lawful processes, aimed at establishing the facts and routinely implement recommendations that strengthen public safety.
He explained that that every driver employed by Dangote Cement is required to undergo an extensive and rigorously structured recruitment process that includes Valid Driver’s license class G, background verification of both the driver and their guarantors, comprehensive medical evaluation, including vision screening (eye test), blood pressure checks, body mass index (BMI), random blood sugar (RBS) test as well as drug and alcohol testing.
“Other recruitment screening covers usage within a three-month detection window, ensuring identifying any history of substance use before employment, completion of a two-week intensive training programme, which consists of twelve safety modules, practical driving assessments, and written examinations,” Mr Pathak stated.
“In the past two months alone, over 2,000 prospective drivers have successfully completed this process. Only those who meet all required standards were engaged and certified to operate any Dangote Group vehicles. Our commitment to safety extends beyond recruitment. All drivers undergo mandatory pre-trip medical assessments, conducted by licensed nurses and doctors.
“These include regular checks on blood pressure, vision, and overall fitness, ensuring drivers are physically and mentally fit to operate safely. To enforce compliance with our zero-tolerance policy on substance use, random drug tests are conducted routinely across our operations,” he disclosed.
Mr Pathak stated that Dangote Cement would continue to collaborate with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and other regulatory agencies to ensure that all training, compliance, and operational processes are not only standardised but also continuously improved, adding that these authorities are also actively involved in monitoring and evaluation of their safety practices.
He maintained that the cement miller remains fully committed to strengthening driver onboarding and training, enforcing strict safety and behavioural standards, applying punitive measures to curb errant driving, collaborating with government agencies, regulators, and communities to improve road safety, ensuring transparency, accountability, and compassion in everything they do.
Also addressing the assembled drivers, the Group Chief, Health Safety Social and Environment Officer & Sustainability function, Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Dr James Adenuga stressed the importance of safety protocols and noted that the process was not just to train the drivers on the consequences but to continuously remind them of essentials of safety guides.
Mr Adenuga further stated that the regular training was to educate them in the language they understand and teach them how the training matters to them. He gave insights on the measures put in place to ensure the right individuals are recruited as drivers, saying some of the qualifications for recruiting the drivers included minimum of secondary school certificate, ability to speak English language with writing and reading skills, free of substance abuse, 2-5 years driving experience, possession of Class-G drivers’ license, guarantors and rigorous training among other measures.
“We also partner Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to train and prepare them for professional driving so as to equip and give them the basics and fundamentals to prevent them for reckless driving. We equally have a process to give recognition and award to those that profess conduct and good behaved drivers among their peers,” he added.
Taking the drivers through some requirements for safe driving, a Road Safety Expert, Mr Oje Ebhota explained that the choice of the topic for his paper centred on safety driving habits for accident-free journeys.
Mr Ebhota listed acts such as aggressiveness, impatient driving, use of phone while driving, taking alcoholic drink and disobedience to traffic signs, as negatives against the tenet of safe driving.
He advised the assembled drivers to be conscious of dangerous overtaking and to drive within the driving limit of 60km per hour so that they do not veer off the road and cause accidents that could affect negatively other road users.
According to him, “let me tell you all, drivers are the ambassadors of Dangote Group. Aside being ambassadors, you are also stakeholders that should be careful and consider other road users as important while on the road.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The corporate mobility solution from Bolt, Bolt Business, has expressed its desire to strengthen relationships with existing customers in Nigeria by introducing solutions tailored to industries with frequent employee mobility needs, including healthcare, financial services, legal services and logistics.
This is as the organisation, over the past 12 months, delivered double-digit growth in the country, driven by expanding adoption across multiple industries, growing demand from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and an increasing number of firms seeking cost-efficient alternatives to managing in-house transport fleets.
The Country Manager for Bolt for Business Nigeria, Mr Isaac Iroko, disclosed that the smarter mobility solutions being planned will improve visibility, simplify expense management and support business growth.
“Our focus remains on building products that create value for organisations of every size while delivering a seamless experience for their employees,” he stated.
Bolt Business has continued to experience an increasing demand from businesses seeking smarter, more efficient ways to manage employee transportation and business travel.
It serves organisations across a broad range of industries, including financial services, technology, healthcare, professional services, manufacturing, logistics, media, real estate and fast-growing consumer businesses.
The growth reflects a broader shift in how Nigerian businesses approach corporate mobility. Rather than maintaining expensive vehicle fleets or relying on fragmented transport arrangements, more organisations are adopting digital mobility platforms that offer greater transparency, control and operational efficiency.
“Businesses today are looking beyond transportation; they’re looking for smarter ways to optimise operations and manage costs.
“We’ve seen organisations across different sectors embrace Bolt Business because it gives them a simple, reliable and transparent way to manage employee travel, whether it’s daily commutes, client meetings or business trips.
“This growth demonstrates that corporate mobility is becoming an increasingly important part of business efficiency in Nigeria,” Mr Iroko stated.
Unlike traditional fleet management, Bolt Business enables companies to centralise transportation through a single platform, providing features such as centralised billing, trip reporting, spending controls and real-time visibility into employee travel. These capabilities help businesses improve oversight while reducing the administrative burden associated with corporate transportation.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
To boost economic activities in Lagos Island and support residents, the chief executive of the Lagos State Lotteries and Gaming Authority, Mr Bashir Are, sponsored the training of eight persons at the LagRide Drivers Academy through the LagRide Partner Programme.
Mr Are funded both the academy training and the vehicle costs, removing the two barriers that most frequently prevent qualified drivers from entering formal, structured employment in the mobility sector.
The beneficiaries were handed over keys to their vehicles at a ceremony in Lagos on Tuesday, July 21, 2026.
They now operate a LagRide vehicle under the platform’s Drive To Own programme, which allows a Captain to earn daily income while working towards full ownership of the vehicle at the end of the agreed payment term.
“The initial capital required to be onboarded was never going to come from these young men, so we provided that intervention financially so that they can have good employment.
“Lagos is a megacity. My agency runs the largest gaming and fintech conference on the continent every year, and when those delegates arrive, we do not want them driven around in poor vehicles. This is also employment for our own people, and we have a great deal of unemployment and underemployment in this country.
“These Captains are from Lagos Island Local Government, and they can now take care of their own families. Let me be clear about one thing. This is not a project. It is a programme, and it continues,” Mr Are stated.
Also speaking, the chairman of LagRide, Ms Diana Chen, said, “Today is just a new beginning, and more and more people will come. More local governments will join us, and one day we want to bring the Governor here so that this programme runs across the state.
“LagRide is a platform where a person comes to take a job and ends up owning the vehicle. It is also a platform that any government, or any organisation with a social development or CSR mandate, can use to empower the people they want to support. The people get their own asset at the end of it.”
On her part, the lawmaker representing Lagos Island Constituency I in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mrs Omolara Oyekan-Olumegbon, said, “Everyone keeps saying there are not enough jobs for our youths. This is our own way of ensuring that they are empowered.
“When you give a person money, it is money, and it finishes. This is the difference between giving a man a fish and teaching him how to fish. You are giving these young men something they can use to take care of themselves, their families and their homes.
“We must thank the chief executive of the Lagos State Lotteries and Gaming Authority for doing this, and I must also thank Chief Diana Chen. Lagos Island is a commercial hub, and we intend to keep the flag flying. This is the beginning, and we will be coming back to ask for more.”
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A bill aimed at prohibiting hawking, trading or preaching inside commercial vehicles in Nigeria has been passed by the Senate.
The bill known as the Federal Road Safety Corps (Amendment) Bill, 2026, imposes fines between N50,000 and N100,000 for violations if assented to by the President.
The piece of legislation was passed by the red chamber of the National Assembly on Thursday and should later be transmitted to President Bola Tinubu for assent.
Members of the upper chamber of the parliament explained that the law was amended to discourage distractions in commercial vehicles and improve the safety of commuters.
In addition, motorists who fail to cooperate with officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) during roadside breath tests conducted on reasonable suspicion are liable to fines or imprisonment or both.
Lawmakers noted that this was to improve compliance with road safety regulations and reduce road crashes, as fines for driving under the influence of alcohol or intoxicating drugs were raised to N100,000 from N5,000, with the risk of spending two years behind bars.
It was also proposed that disobedience to traffic lights, road signs, pavement markings and other traffic control devices will now attract N100,000, while the fine for speed limit violations is now N100,000, with reckless driving now a fine of N100,000 or two years’ imprisonment.
