Dangote Group invests $24m in Nigeria’s education sector and set for new intakes into the Dangote Academy
As the Dangote Academy prepares to admit yet another set of student engineers, it can be revealed that the company has in the recent past injected over N10billion, approximately $24 million, into Nigeria’s educational sector.
The breakdown seen by this reporter shows that aside from the government, the Dangote Group is the second-largest contributor to education in Nigeria. It is also the country’s largest private-sector employer.
A document seen by newsmen shows that about one thousand engineering graduates have been admitted into the Academy, and subsequently employed into the various subsidiaries of the Dangote Group.
The free training programmes in the Dangote Academy located in Kogi State are Graduate Engineer Training Scheme, Junior Technician Training Scheme and Vocational Training Scheme.
The conglomerate has provided a plethora of infrastructural support to the country’s tertiary institutions, one of which is the construction of N1.2billion for the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria.
The company had also donated a N1.2billion Business School for the Bayero University Kano.
According to the document seen, the company also constructed N500million worth of dormitories and power supply facilities for the University of Science and Technology, Wudil, Kano State.
The company also built a N300million Aliko Dangote Business Complex for the University of Ibadan Business School. The document revealed that the company donated N50million to Ogun State based Crescent University, as part of its contribution to support the school in providing infrastructural facilities.
In the same vein, the company also donated N120million for the construction of school blocks at Nawair-ud-deen Comprehensive College, Idi-Oro, Mushin, Lagos. Earlier, the company had donated N200 million to Katsina State University.
The Group also gave N118 million for a squash complex project at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka main campus and another N50 million to the University of Port Harcourt.
It would be recalled that the President of the Dangote Group Aliko Dangote was in 2018 named sixth most charitable person in the world by a UK-based Richtopia Group.
Mr Dangote had said he was prioritizing his philanthropic works which include education health and empowerment, among others.
President Muhammadu Buhari, like his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, had hailed the largeheartedness of Africa’s wealthiest person, noting that it is one thing to be blessed, and another to use it for God and humanity.
