President of Dangote Group and Chairman of Dangote Cement Plc, Aliko Dangote has urged Nigerians to see the current challenges faced by the country as a passing phase which will further strengthen the country economically in the future
Dangote who has always expressed his abiding faith in Nigeria as an economically viable nation told a delegation of distributors from across the country who paid him a visit in his office in Lagos that Nigeria remains the destination of choice for investors despite the security challenges among others.
Aliko Dangote said; “I have always said Nigeria is a good place to investment. God has given us in Nigeria what many other countries are searching for. We have got fertile land for agriculture, we have the minerals resources and we have oil. All we need to do is to harness them for our good.”
“The present challenges we face should not deter us from investing. It’s just a passing phases. Other countries in the developed economies started from somewhere. They all experienced some of these challenges in the past. So I want us to see these challenges as obstacles towards attaining greatness.”
Dangote who also explained his continued investment in Nigeria to distributors mentioned that it was only proper for Nigerians to champion the cause. He said “If Nigerians do not invest in their country, other people would not come. They will want to see our success story before they can come.” He then promised the distributors that his companies would continue to live up to expectation to ensure that their business interests are protected at all times and opportunities to strengthen its relation will be fully explored, including job creation opportunities.
Dangote also informed the customers of the ongoing efforts to refine the service being provided for the customers saying going forward the customers would experience improved services across all its customer touch points and delivery of its products would be seamless.
He took time to answer questions and observations raised by the distributors who commended the business mogul for his doggedness in investing locally as opposed to others who chose to take money away from the country.
Also speaking at the event was his honorary Adviser, Engineer Joseph Makoju who told distributors that Dangote Cement is more than ready to meet and exceed their expectation saying the production capacity expansion is intended to make cement more available and subsequently bring down the price.
Makoju to the excitement of the distributors announced the completion of a twenty four hour customer service escalation lines where distributors can reach management to lodge complaint and have their issues attended to promptly.
He said “What we are trying to do is to ensure that you grow along with us. That is not a bad idea and I think we should commend him for that. Let us know what your problems are, we are ready to solve them immediately. With new production lines now on board in Ibese and Obajana, you can say bye bye to scarcity”,
It would be recalled that Dangote Cement is adding additional two lines to the present 6 million metric ton capacity per annum at Ibese to shore up its capacity to 12 million while additional 3 million capacity line is being added to Obajana plant to bring total capacity to 13.25 million tons per annum.
Also as a part of initiatives to revolutionize agriculture under the transformation agenda, Dangote Group signed a MOU with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, a deal that will ensure the provision N165 billion for rice cultivation in five states across Nigeria.