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Tag: Obajana Cement Factory

  • Protests over controversial Obajana cement factory

    Protests over controversial Obajana cement factory

    Youths on Wednesday in Lokoja the Kogi State capital staged a protest over the contentious acquisition of the Obajana Cement Plant (OCP) by Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) in 2002.

    A similar protest took place in Abuja on Tuesday, when a group identified as Mass Action Against Corruption, accused DIL of exploiting the state and “fraudulently” acquiring the Obajana Cement Plant without any proof of payment.

    Leader of the protest on Wednesday, Ibrahim Isiaka, said there were available documents indicating that the cement factory belonged to the State Government, and called for the Federal Government’s intervention.

    “One thing is sacrosanct, we have all legal document that shows that Kogi State owns the cement factory in Obajana and not Dangote. Documents are rolling out on social media on the reason why Dangote should give up the property for the Kogi people,” he said.

    Obajana Cement Plant was one of the most critical components of economic activities in the country, being one of the highest taxpayers, and a vehicle for one of the largest companies invested in by thousands of Nigerian and foreign investors.

    A 10-member technical committee on the evaluation of the legality of Dangote Cement’s acquisition, headed by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Folashade Ayoade, has also stated that the purported transfer of the facility to Dangote Cement was “improper”.

    The committee report seen by TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) also alleged there is “no evidence” that Dangote Cement paid any amount of money to the Kogi government for the ownership transfer of the facility, nor has the company paid any dividend or profit realised from the cement plant to the state government since inception.

    “By the assignment of the three certificates of occupancy, the title in Obajana Cement Company Plc still vests in Kogi state as the sole owner. The three title documents were used to obtain a loan of sixty-three billion naira only. (N63,000,000,000. 00) to finance the construction of the cement plant in Obajana,” the report stated.

    It added that the right over the mineral sites belongs to the state government and that there is “no evidence” the state relinquished it to the company.

    Meanwhile, DIL has denied any wrongdoing, insisting its acquisition of the Obajana Cement facility in 2002, followed due process and that it had 100 per cent equity in the company.

    Group Head Branding and Communications, DIL, Anthony Chiejina, in a statement titled, ‘Obajana Cement Plant: Separating Facts from Fiction,’ said the land on which the Obajana Cement Plant seats was acquired solely by DIL in 2003, well after it had acquired the shares in Obajana Cement Company in 2002.

    “DIL was issued three Certificates of Occupancy in its name after payment of necessary fees and compensation to landowners. The plant and machinery were conceived, designed, procured, built, and paid for solely by DIL, again, well after it acquired the shares in Obajana Cement Company.

    “The limestone and other minerals used by the Obajana Cement Plant, by the provisions of the Nigerian constitution belonged to the Federation, with authority only in the FGN and not the state in which the minerals are situated, to grant licences to extract and mine the resources. After the agreement with the KSG, DIL applied for and obtained mining leases over the said limestone from FGN, at its cost and has complied with the terms of the leases since inception,” Chiejina said.

    The statement further stressed that the government of Kogi had no assets or minerals to give, and only invited DIL to come into the state and invest in a manner that will create employment, develop the state, and earn it taxes.

    It said that according to the agreement between Dangote and Kogi government, DIL was to establish a cement plant with a capacity of 3,500,000 metric tonnes per annum, source for all the funds required to develop the cement plant and retain 100 per cent of its shareholding.

    However, it said the agreement allowed the Kogi State Government to acquire five per cent equity shareholding in OCP within five years; while granting tax relief and exemption from levies and other charges to DIL for a period of seven years from the date of commencement of production.

    The ownership tussle between the Kogi State Government and the DIL has resulted in threats and a total shutdown of operations at the factory. The State’s House of Assembly complex was also mysteriously burnt down on Monday by yet-to-be-identified hoodlums and a probe has been launched.

    In the meantime, the Federal Government has waded into the dispute, over fears it was capable of eroding investors’ confidence in the Nigerian economy and destroying the federal government’s programme on promoting ease of doing business in Nigeria.

    Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Niyi Adebayo, addressing journalists said there was a need to follow laid procedures for the resolution of the dispute in accordance with the law instead of resorting to self-help.

    “The view of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI) is basically that if there is a dispute between a state government and any industry within the state, we have the courts of law to deal with the issue. We believe that it is very wrong for the state governments to take laws into their own hands to address such situations. The courts are there.

    “I understand that there is an original agreement between the state government and the Dangote Industries that called for arbitration in the event of a dispute. I believe that all these legal steps should have been taken rather than a state government taking the laws into its own hands. It does not portray Nigeria in good light for sub-nationals to be creating problems for people who have invested money in Nigeria,” the Minister said.

    The disruption of operations at the cement plant has caused a loss of revenue not only to the company and its customers but also adversely impacted revenue due to both the Federal and State governments.

  • Kogi youths protest against Dangote’s ownership of State Cement Factory

    Kogi youths protest against Dangote’s ownership of State Cement Factory

    Youths in Kogi State have protested Dangote’s operations at the largest cement factory in Africa, the Obajana Cement Factory.
    The protest took place at the early hours of Tuesday with the young people comprising young men and women.
    The protesters carried placards of different inscriptions while chanting solidarity songs.
    some of the placards read; “Return our Cement Factory, We Stand with GYB, We Are Tired of Dangote Group,” among others.
    Heads of Obajana, Kabba Junction/Zariagi youths lead the protest.
    The Chairman of Kabba Junction/ Zaruagi youths, Abubakar Ahmed who spoke to the press on behalf of his colleagues, said their grievances with Dangote stemmed from the fact that the company has reneged on the Corporate Social Responsibility agreement reached with them.
    Rather than repair and improving them, the spokesman said Trucks being used by the company to convey Cement and coal to and from the company has destroyed lives and infrastructure of the community.
    In his words, “You need to go to Obajana main community, Kabba Junction here which is the gateway between the company and the North, Zariagi and even the state capital, Lokoja, to fully appreciate the level of damage caused by Dangote.
    “His drivers have killed countless people while conveying goods, cause dilapidation on our roads and created harmful situation through the dust being raised during production and conveyance of goods on our communities.
    “Despite all these, there is not a single infrastructure; be it health facility, school or anything to improve the lives of our people.”
    The spokesman said the youths support the state government, noting that their hope is for the right thing to be done to ensure what is due the state from Dangote gets to it.
    Other speakers, who also complained about their inability to  afford the cement which is being made in their community said it was inconceivable for them not to be able to afford what is being made in their immediate environment.
  • Dangote group grows revenue to N808b in six months

    Dangote group grows revenue to N808b in six months

    Dangote Cement has grown its revenue by 17 percent in six months as it recorded a whopping sum of N808 billion, appreciating from the N690.55 billion it recorded in the same period in 2021.

    This is despite the biting poverty and lack that people in the company’s host communities have continued to face.

    The people of Obajana, the largest producer of the Company’s Cement have continued to be plagued by lack of access to quality water, unemployment, dilapidated health infrastructure among other factors that hamper quality of human life.

    The Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Cement, Michel Puchercos made the revelation about the new profit even as he stated that the company is ramping up production in its Okpella plant, Nigeria.

    Puchercos also said that the company is progressing well to deploy grinding plants in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.

    Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire will join the lists of the following African countries when the grinding plants finally becomes operation. Cameroon (1.5Mta clinker grinding), Congo (1.5Mta), Ghana (1.5Mta import), Ethiopia (2.5Mta), Senegal (1.5Mta), Sierra Leone (0.5Mta import), South Africa (2.8Mta), Tanzania (3.0Mta), Zambia (1.5Mta).

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    In the same vein, the Cement Plant has announced that for the second quarter of 2022, a group revenue of N808 billion for the half year ended June 31, 2022.

    This is according to the cement company’s results made available on the website of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX).

    Dangote Cement further reported a group sales volume of 14.2 metric tons (mt), consisting of 9.3 Mt done by Nigerian operations while the balance was contributed by operations in other African countries.

    Reacting to the result, Pocheros said: “Despite the elevated inflation due to a very volatile global environment, the first half of 2022 has been positive.

    ”We recorded increases in revenue and EBITDA that drove strong cash generation across the Group.

    “We recorded revenue of ₦808.0 billion up 17 per cent compared to last year and Group EBITDA of ₦373.2Billion, up 6.3 per cent with an EBITDA margin of 46.2 per cent.”

    Puchercos explained that significant increase in energy and AGO costs are impacting negatively on production and supply of cement products.

    He added, “To drive consumer engagement and support demand ahead of the rainy season; we have commenced the 3rd season of our National Consumer Promotion – “Bag of Goodies 3.

    “On the operational side, we are ramping up production at our Okpella plant and are progressing well to deploy grinding plants in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.”

    He noted that the volatile international context is strengthening efforts to ramp up the usage of alternative fuels and execution of export-to-import strategy.

    The company according to him is reducing dependence on imported inputs and making the local markets self-sufficient.

    “Our continuous focus on efficiency, meeting market demand and maintaining our costs leadership drives our ability to consistently deliver superior profitability and value to all shareholders” he added.

    In a related development, there are confirmed reports that the first batch of winners have emerged from the ongoing National Consumer Promotion – “Bag of Goodies 3”.

    The winners will be receiving their prizes in a series of events lined up in the coming weeks.

    Dangote Cement is Africa’s leading cement producer with nearly 51.6Mta capacity across Africa.

    A fully integrated quarry-to-customer producer, it has a production capacity of 35.25Mta in its home market, Nigeria.

    Obajana plant in Kogi State, Nigeria, is the largest in Africa with 16.25Mta of capacity across five lines while Ibese plant in Ogun State has four cement lines with a combined installed capacity of 12Mta.

    The Gboko plant in Benue State has 4Mta while Okpella plant in Edo State has 3Mta.

    Through recent investments, Dangote Cement has eliminated Nigeria’s dependence on imported cement and has transformed the nation into an exporter of cement serving neighbouring countries.