By Aduragbemi Omiyale
To give communities where it has its backward integration projects a sense of belonging, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc has increased its social intervention programmes, spending billions of Naira to put in place social amenities that will make their lives better.
A statement from the Corporate Communication Department of the company said blocks of classrooms, scholarship, water scheme, rehabilitation and opening up of road network, and construction of health centre, among others, have been provided in Numan in Adamawa and Tunga Sugar Project in Nasarawa.
Dangote Sugar has 78,000 hectares of farmland in Nasarawa and 32,000 hectares in Adamawa. These two facilities have created thousands of jobs for Nigerians.
Currently, over 600 workers are engaged, while 90MW is to be generated in the Dangote Sugar Project in Tunga, Nasarawa State. When the factory is fully operational, it would have the capacity to crush 12,000 tons of cane per day,
So far, the organisation has pumped $500 million into the project in Nasarawa. More is to be invested in raw sugar production as part of the federal government’s sugar master plan.
Recall that the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) developed a roadmap to realise self-sufficiency in the sugar sector within a short time.
The chairman of Dangote Sugar, Mr Aliko Dangote, said at a recent Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company that Nigeria could rake in foreign exchange of up to $700 million yearly from the BIP scheme if fully implemented.
“If the national sugar master plan is strictly adhered to and the players follow the rules, the country will be better for it as Nigeria will save between $600 million and $700 million annually as forex,” he said.
The federal government has recognised these efforts by Dangote Sugar to change the narrative for good.
At a recent working tour of the company’s expansive Savannah Sugar Company (SSCL) Ltd in Numan, Adamawa State, and the Tunga sugar project site in Nasarawa State, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Niyi Adebayo, said he was impressed “that such a project exists in this place.”
“What we’ve seen so far from all the plantations we’ve been to is very impressive. We are impressed with the level of work they are doing,” he added.
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Adedapo Adesanya