The management of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals, on Thursday, said its 650,000 barrels per day capacity project will create jobs for about 250,000 Nigerians when fully operational next year.
A statement by the group, quoted the Group Executive Director, Strategy and Capital Projects, Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, as telling newsmen in Lagos that the refinery has potential to turn around Nigeria’s economy with huge opportunities for direct and indirect jobs.
This is just as Edwin assured that, barring any unforeseen circumstance; Dangote Fertilizer plant’s products will hit the market this month.
He said the huge unemployment rate of Nigerian youths and the need to make the country self-reliant in fuel consumption and attract much needed foreign exchange through export of the products were reasons that motivated the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote to venture into manufacturing.
Edwin expressed optimism that the refinery will be a game changer for Nigeria and the rest of Africa, adding that Dangote Industries Limited is the highest employer of labour outside the Federal Government.
The group, he stressed, has succeeded in substantially reducing the high rate of unemployment in the country, even as the conglomerate is already recruiting youths into its various agricultural schemes and other subsidiaries.
Speaking on Dangote Refinery’s employment generation capacity, Director- General at Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Olawale Timothy said the potential huge potential for direct and indirect jobs on completion will greatly reduce crime, poverty and insecurity in Nigeria.
Speaking further, Edwin said Dangote Fertilizer Limited has a well-equipped soil testing laboratory to ensure efficiency of the product for farmers, which he said “will enable us analyse and identify a particular soil deficiency.
“Applying the right fertiliser to soil will enable it yield maximum result. The goal of our soil testing is to provide an accurate assessment of the soil’s fertility to make fertiliser recommendations.
“A proper soil test will help ensure the application of enough fertiliser to meet the requirements of the crop while taking advantage of the nutrients already present in the soil,” he stressed.
Edwin maintained that Dangote Fertilizer would make Nigeria self-sufficient in fertilizer production, besides and thereafter export to other African countries, lamenting a situation where farmers currently have to utilize whatever fertilizer is available since they have no choice.
“We need to know that the fertilizer that will work in one state may not be suitable in another state, as they may not have the same soil type and composition. The same fertilizer you use for sorghum may not be the fertilizer you will use for sugar cane,” he added.
