Flags-Off ₦550m Students Hostel Construction In FUT Owerri
Caption: From left, Prof. Nnenna N. Oti, Vice-Chancellor, Federal University Technology (FUTO); Aliko Dangote, President/CE, Dangote Industries Limited/Guest Lecturer on Enterprise, Leadership and service to Humanity; and Senator Jack Tilly-Gyado, Pro-Chancellor of the university, during the commissioning of ACE – FUELS Laboratory by President/CE, Dangote Industries Limited/Guest Lecturer during the 37th Public Lecture of FUTO in Owerri, Imo state on Saturday April 25, 2026.
Founder and President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote at the weekend called for deliberate efforts to add value to the country’s abundant resources, rather than exporting such, only to import them as finished product.
He likened importing finished products to importing poverty, inflation and unemployment, while export of raw materials creates jobs, prosperity and development abroad, a reality that attracted him into manufacturing to create jobs and add values to the raw materials that were usually exported.
Dangote, who spoke at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, where he delivered a public lecture on Enterprise, Leadership and Service to Humanity, said a major key in industrialization is looking inwards, which is why investors in the industrial sector should come from among Nigerians.
He added that if he refuses to invest in Nigeria and Africa, no foreign investor will be willing to stake his funds here, dawing examples from the Asia where Asian economies are “powered by Asians, not foreign investment. They are the ones who invested in their countries. They did not wait for foreigners to come and develop their economies.’
The foremost industrialist encouraged the students with the history of his humble beginning in business as a distributor of bagged cement and other items. He said that despite making money by trading in commodities, he decided to go embark on a backward integration process, producing locally, those goods he used to import.
Turning to the students, he admitted that Nigerian youths are endowed with an innovative spirit and can hold their own anywhere around the globe, recalling how many fresh graduates of engineering who recruited and trained by Dangote Refinery and Fertiliser have been poached by companies in the Gulf region who treat them as expatriates.
He said, “We face significant economic and social challenges, but we also sit on enormous opportunity: a young and energetic population, abundant natural resources, and an entrepreneurial spirit that is unmatched across the continent. In my own journey through business and industry, entrepreneurship has shown itself to be one of the most powerful tools for transforming challenges into opportunities. When young people are equipped with technical skills, mentorship, and access to capital, they do not just seek jobs – they create them. They build enterprises that diversify our economy beyond oil, strengthen local industries, and fuel sustainable development.”
He challenged the students to be innovative and creative, ready to learn and adapt as to be able to add value to the society. Drawing examples from China, he told the students that China has the highest number of people in the engineering field, which has made the country the leading centre of manufacturing and industrial development.
Dangote pledged to construct a hostel valued at ₦550 million for the students, in addition to donating N25 million to students of the institution through their Student Union Government.
He assured that the hostel, when completed, will alleviate the shortages of accommodation for students of the institution.
