Communities extol Dangote’s CSR projects in Nasarawa

Host communities of the Dangote Sugar Project in Tunga, Nasarawa State have hailed the philanthropic gestures of the company, describing the community-company relationship as cordial.
The host communities of the Dangote’s backward Integration Sugar Project in Nasarawa State are: Tunga, Awe, Azara, Wuse and Akiri.
Representative of the communities, District Head of Tunga, Alhaji Shuaibu Galadima Ibrahim said even though the company’s investment was yet to start yielding profit, compensations have being paid and Corporate Social Responsibilities programme are being implemented to support the communities.
He said, as Ambassadors of the Dangote Sugar Project, they would do everything possible to secure it.
He described Tunga as very lucky to be part of the Dangote story, saying his people had never dreamt of achieving such a feat.
”Here we pray for Alhaji Aliko Dangote every day. We want him to succeed because his success is linked to our success. In the past, we are a people relatively unknown, but now we are on the map,” he said.
The District Head thanked the company for providing his people with borehole water, as well as the hospital and school currently being constructed.
“Dangote has given our people jobs, they have paid compensation, they’ve given us water, and they are giving us hospital and school. We should be thankful,” he said in Hausa language.
Speaking earlier, the Chief Press Secretary to the Nasarawa State Government, Ibrahim Addra, said the state government was desirous of intensifying its industrialization project, adding that the Dangote Group was key to achieving such a feat.
A team from the Nasarawa State Government led by the Chief Press Secretary and select journalists visited the Dangote Sugar Project, Tunga.
The Dangote Group is the biggest private sector investor in the Backward Integration Policy of the Federal Government. The policy seeks to gradually halt the importation of sugar into the country.
It would be recalled that in 2017 the Dangote Industries Limited signed a landmark $700million Memorandum of Understanding with the Nasarawa State Government.
The integrated sugar complex to be located in Tunga, Awe Local Government Area of Nasarawa state, comprises 60,000ha sugar plantation and two sugar factories with capacity to produce 430,000tpa of refined white sugar representing about 30% of the country’s consumption and would be the largest plant in Nigeria.
Already N250million has been earmarked for community development activities.
The project would also provide 30,000 jobs.
When the phase II of the project is completed, it would make it the largest plant in Africa.