Dangote: Nigeria Urgently Needs Revolution in the Power Sector

Aliko Dangote, the CEO of Dangote Industries Ltd., has called for a power sector revolution in Nigeria.

He also urged local engineers to collaborate towards boosting manufacturing to eliminate capital flight and speed up Nigeria’s industrialisation.

Mr Dangote, represented by Group General Manager/Human Resources, Dangote Projects, Fola Ali, stated this at a luncheon organised by the Ikeja Branch of the Nigerian Society of Engineers as part of activities to mark the 2021 engineering week.

The businessman called for youth mentorship and a power sector revolution for speedy industrialisation and environmental safety.

“We need to get ourselves empowered. We should encourage collaboration among members of our distinguished NSE branches. We have engineers who cannot stand alone. You can come together,” he said.

Mr Dangote added that if engineers collaborated, it would boost manufacturing, address capital flight and enhance local capacity development.

Devakumar Edwin, a director at the Dangote company, who joined the meeting via Zoom, said industrialisation could be speedily achieved through manufacturing.

Mr Edwin commended the knowledge and skills of local engineers, saying they can uplift Nigeria.

“They are the best that I have seen,” he said.

He noted that Nigerian engineers were excellent but needed more exposure to make a greater impact.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by Rotimi Thomas, the permanent secretary at the Office of Infrastructure in the Lagos State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, felicitated the NSE on its programme, stating that local content development is important.

The NSE also presented a preliminary report on Lagos State Engineering Index and Infrastructure Scorecard to Mr Sanwo-Olu.

The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, called for collaboration to close the gap between power generation and distribution while calling for the adoption of clean energy and energy mix.

He said the energy mix would provide Nigeria with additional energy sources for industries to thrive while the environment would benefit from clean energy.

“We have to know that production of power is wealth generation for the country,” he said.

(NAN)