COVER
Dangote Launches Students Training on Right Application of Cement
By David Myaornyi, Abuja
Dangote Cement Plc has launched a novel Internship Scheme for students of tertiary institutions in the country.
This means students undergoing a one-year internship will be fully funded by the leading cement company.
The scheme, according to the Dangote Cement Lagos Regional Sales Director, Mr.
Tunde Mabogunje during the induction of pioneer students of Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, has been designed to provide practical and hand on the job experience for excellent Engineering students in the higher institutions across Nigeria.He explained that the scheme is part of Dangote Cement’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and offers a unique opportunity for engineering students to apply the knowledge they’ve gained in classrooms and laboratories to real-world situations.
By combining their academic learning with practical, on-field training, students will emerge as well-rounded engineers.Mobogunje said, “We are kicking off this phase of the scheme in Lagos and Kano States. A total of 20 students are involved with 10 students selected from each of the two states.
“In selecting the interns, we wrote to the authorities of Yaba College of Technology and Kano Polytechnic requesting for the list of the best performing students in Building Studies.
“We are to train the selected students on the right application of cement with specific reference to Dangote Cement in accordance with Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) prescriptions.
“The interns are to be deployed to various building project sites while technical officers from Dangote Cement will be on ground to monitor them.”
The Dangote Cement boss pointed out that the project underscores the company’s belief that acquisition of vocational and technical skills is vital to the wellbeing of any sector in particular and the economy as a whole.
“They are vital prerequisite for growth. However, dearth of vocational and technical skills has had an adverse effect on the building sector.
“This internship programme is apt and a major step in the right direction towards addressing the gap. As trainees gain practical field experience, they will be well-prepared to become well-rounded professionals and make significant contributions to the industry.
“At Dangote Group, we are committed to providing vocational training to young Nigerians to equip them with a range of valuable skills.
“To address gaps in some of our plants, we recruited graduates from engineering and technology-based programmes and trained them in various aspects of industrial operations.
“These technicians were subsequently deployed to our plants in Obajana, Ibese, Gboko, as well as our sugar and salt refineries in Apapa and Ikeja.
“They have demonstrated that with the right training and orientation, young Nigerians excel in every assignment they undertake.
“For our oil refinery and fertiliser plant, we recruited hundreds of graduates of Engineering based courses and sent them abroad for training.
“This set of professionals are now running the new plants and are training other sets of engineers through skill transfer.
“We provide vocational training programmes for our host communities. The youths are veritable assets in any society and the quality of the youths determines the outlook of tomorrow’s society.
“Therefore, an investment in developing vocational skills among youths will yield the desired results.”
In his remark, the Rector of Yaba College of Technology, Dr. (Engr.) Ibraheem Adedotun Abdul commended Dangote Cement management for the scheme describing it as a landmark achievement in Corporate Social Responsibility.
He expressed happiness that Yaba College of Technology has been chosen as a pioneer institution for the scheme and assured that the participating students from the institution would live up to expectation and the scheme will achieve its objective of bridging the gap between academic performance and practical experience.
The programme the Rector said would expose the students to practical aspects of their field of studies and so when they finished in school they would have acquired the necessary skills that will make them take off as a professional with ease.
Engr. Abdul stated that the College has other groups, institutions, and Companies which it partners with for the purpose of advancing the skills of the students.
He disclosed that the College management was at the verge of setting up Industry Advisory Committee for which he canvassed for a representative from Dangote Cement.
While noting that the door of Yaba College of Technology is opened to further partnerships by Dangote cement and other similar organisations, the Rector assured that the initiative would make the student sound both on and off the field and be more useful to the society.
Also speaking during the induction, Dangote Cement National Sales Director, Funmi Sani said the internship initiative was not unexpected from Dangote Cement because the company stands for quality and anything that would bring quality into both academic and practical skills application would interest the company.
He urged the students to take the maximum opportunity provided by the scheme to up their game and stand out among the rest, noting that they will be paid by Dangote Cement for the period of the internship.
COVER
281 Inmates Missing from Custodial Centre after Borno Flood
By David Torough, Abuja
Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has declared 281 inmates missing from the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Maiduguri, Borno State.
NCoS said this followed an evacuation after the flood that engulfed the state capital.
A statement onby the Service Public Relations Officer (SPRO), Mr Abubakar Umar yesterday in Abuja said seven other inmates had been recaptured.
Umar said that the service was in custody of the details of the missing inmates, including their biometrics.
“The flood brought down the walls of the correctional facilities, including the medium security custodial centre Maiduguri (MSCC) as well as the staff quarters in the city.
“Upon the evacuation of inmates by officers of the service with support from sister security agencies to a safe and secure facility, 281 inmates were observed to be missing.
“However, it is important to note that the service is in custody of their details, including their biometrics, which is being made available to the public.
“The service is working in synergy with other security agencies as both covert and overt deployments have been activated to look out for them.
“Presently, a total of seven (7) inmates have been recaptured and returned to custody, while efforts are on ground to track down the rest and bring them back to safe custody.“While this effort is on, the public is assured that the incident does not impede or affect public safety,” he said.
COVER
NNPCL Lifts Petrol from Dangote at N898 Per Litre
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
After controversies, trucks from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) yesterday lifted petrol from the Dangote Refinery.
NNPCL revealed that Dangote Refinery sold the fuel at N898 per litre.
The national oil company began loading yesterday after moving about 300 trucks to the 650,000 capacity refinery Dangote Refinery located in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State.
Its spokesman, Olufemi Soneye was quoted as saying, “We successfully loaded PMS at the Dangote Refinery today [Sunday].
”“The claim that we purchased it at N760 per liter is incorrect.
“For this initial loading, the price from the refinery was N898 per liter.
”At least, over 70 trucks had loaded at the time of this report.
This marks an end to the month-long debate over the quality and sale of the Dangote petrol.
Speaking to newsmen at the refinery, the Vice President of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Devakumar Edwin described the commencement of the petrol lifting moment of pride to every Nigerian.
He said, “My President has been showing presentations that 52 years ago, we were trying to see how to solve the problem of PMS supply and the queues. Now, after 52 years, we have a solution.
“And the solution is local production of PMS and it is from a Nigerian oil company. And as EPC contractor, it was constructed by a Nigerian company.
“So, it’s a matter of pride that a Nigerian oil company, constructed by a Nigerian-owned company, is able to generate PMS from the local crude and daily will not only to meet the entire requirement of Nigeria, but can also have surplus to export. So, it is a time and moment of great pride to every Nigerian.”
Edwin said 44 percent of the PMS production from the Dangote refinery can meet the requirement of the entire country.
“If you look at the refinery as a whole, PMS alone, every day, 650,000 barrels of crude if we’re processing, we can generate more than 54 million litres of PMS.
“And, of course, the refinery has the capacity to produce various other products too. 44% of the production can meet the entire requirement of the country, 56% of the production has to be exported. “So, it is a huge refinery. So, it is not only going to be doing import substitution, but it is also going to make Forex generation through export revenue.
“The gantries are actually 86 and they can load 86 trucks at a go,” he said.
Last Friday, in Abuja, a member of the Presidential Committee on the Sale of Crude Oil and Refined Product and Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji confirmed that the NNPCL remains the sole buyer of petrol from the Dangote refinery while willing off-takers are free to lift diesel and other products from the refinery.
According to Adedeji, the NNPCL would further distribute to other independent marketers after lifting from the refinery.
He said the nation’s oil company will commence the sale of crude oil to the Dangote refinery in naira from October 1.
COVER
CBN Issues 30-day Deadline to Payment Service Providers on PoS Transactions
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a new directive to Payment Service Providers (PSPs), requiring them to comply with enhanced routing guidelines for Point of Sale (PoS) transactions.This move is aimed at strengthening the monitoring of electronic transactions across Nigeria.
The directive issued on Wednesday aims at strengthening the monitoring of electronic transactions across Nigeria following CBN’s initiative to diversify the Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA) structure, which previously operated through a single aggregator. In a circular signed by Oladimeji Yisa Taiwo on behalf of the CBN Payments System Management Department, the apex bank mandates that all PoS transactions from merchant and agent locations—whether physical or electronic—must now be routed through any CBN-licensed PTSA.The directive is part of efforts to decentralize PoS transaction routing and address concerns over the centralization of such transactions under a single entity.In Aug. 2011, the CBN initially granted a PTSA license to the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) Plc to serve as the sole aggregator of PoS transactions.However, to promote competition and enhance service delivery, the CBN awarded a second PTSA license to Unified Payment Services Limited (UPSL) on April 19.This development aims to reduce the dependence on a single aggregator for the management of PoS transactions, promoting transparency and operational efficiency in Nigeria’s growing electronic payments landscape.