By Dipo Olowookere
Some students from West Africa have appealed to the continent’s richest man, Mr Aliko Dangote, to sanction cement distributors and others selling the product a little above the ex-factory price of N2,450.
The students, under the aegis of the West African Student’s Union (WASU), blamed these set of people for the high cost of Dangote Cement in the region, especially in Nigeria, where the product is manufactured.
At a press briefing on Thursday in Abuja, the union said these distributors and other middlemen must be sanctioned to serve as a deterrent, noting that it was necessary to make the product cheaper to purchase.
At the news conference, the students praised Mr Dangote for his aggressive employment generation drive, urging other wealthy West African leaders to invest in industries that will rid the region of the high unemployment rate.
President of WASU, Comrade Romans Pillah, described the business mogul as God-sent to the African continent and lauded him for employing more than 200,000 youths in his companies.
“As students, we are mostly scared of our future because of the high unemployment rate in our region, but with a man like Aliko Dangote, we are optimistic and only prayed for more Africans like him so as to totally eliminate the high scourge of unemployment in our continent as a whole,” Mr Pillah said.
The WASU leader further commended the doggedness and commitment of the Dangote group to the industrialisation of the West African sub-region.
“WASU wishes to appreciate the Dangote Group on their corporate social responsibility via scholarship, youth empowerment and building of enduring infrastructure,” he said.
Earlier in Lagos, Mr Pillah, with his executive members, had presented an award to Dangote group as the Most Outstanding Company in Africa, noting that there is no other company in the continent that is rapidly expanding across all African countries and employing thousands of youths in their respective locations, as much as the Group.
Dangote’s Group Executive Director, Strategy, Capital Projects & Portfolio Development, Mr Devakumar Edwin, who was also given an award by the students’ body as an Icon of Outstanding Visionary Leadership in Africa, assured them of the group’s determination to create millions of employment across the continent.
Mr Edwin said Mr Dangote’s desire is to ensure that all able youth are gainfully employed and also that he is working towards that by building his factories across the continent.
“I thank you so much for honouring Dangote Group on the basis of employment generation and my humbled self for my personal contribution to the growth and development of the company…
“We will not rest on our oars, we are building more factories across Africa and we will join hands with the government to ensure that all abled youth are gainfully employed, in line with our president’s desire,” he said.
Adedapo Adesanya