Dangote Fertiliser Limited (DFL) has handed over to the Lagos State Basic Education Board (SUBEB) a multi-million naira modern block of classroom and other infrastructure it built in Ibeju-Lekki community.
This was done to meet the yearning of its host communities for quality education with the provision of teaching materials and an environment conducive for effective learning.
The donation came on the heels of the empowerment of farmers in the area, especially those with land in the area taken over by the state government and designated for free trade zone.
The management of Dangote Fertilser said the classrooms were built as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to replace Abejoye Primary School, which, incidentally, was part of the free trade zone area allocated to Dangote Fertiliser Limited but relocated to Abejoye community, has staff rooms, head teacher’s office, toilet facilities, generator and borehole.
Speaking at the handover ceremony in Lagos, the Group Executive Director, Strategy Capital Projects and Portfolio Development, Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, pledged the company’s continuous commitment to the provision of quality education, not only within the host community but across the country.
According to him, Dangote’s support for educational development involves assisting host communities to provide sustainable and qualitative education which ultimately reaches all the people.
This, he said, involves active consultation with the host communities’ stakeholders at stages of development, planning, implementation and evaluation.
Edwin added: “We, as a company, believe that education is the passport to the future and that an investment in knowledge pays the best interest. We are keen to develop, educate and empower local youth and we are achieving these objectives through various interventions, such as the award of scholarship to 50 students selected across our host communities as well as the training of 200 young persons in several vocational skill areas, such as plumbing, electrification, carpentry, welding and others.
“The second phase of this training programme started last September and we are training another batch of 200 local youths drawn from different communities covering Ibeju-Lekki and Epe local government areas.”
Edwin said the company embarked on diverse initiatives meant for developing the local institutions within its host communities to enable the people drive their own development initiatives.
“We have installed 14 boreholes in our host communities between 2017 and 2018 and we conducted regular lab tests to ensure the water from the boreholes is potable. In 2019, we held a teachers training workshop for teachers within the host communities and Epe, in conjunction with Lagos State Ministry of Education, to develop the capacities of public school teachers to teach more effectively, using 21st century modalities,” he added.