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.”