Organized labour has congratulated Alhaji Aliko Dangote, founder and Chairman of Dangote Group, an industrial conglomerate in Africa on the occasion of his 63rd birthday.
Vice President, Industriall Global Union in a congratulatory message in Kaduna on Friday, Comrade Issa Aremu said while it is true that Aliko remains the richest man on the continent, what marked him out was his wealth creation through value addition, Industrialization and beneficiation to the abundant raw materials of Africa as well as the creation of much needed mass decent employment for African workers.
According to him, Dangote Group of industries had changed the narrative of the continent from that of ‘resource curse’, importation and smuggling to resource beneficiation, and new factories in food processing to cement manufacturing, from freight to oil refineries, from sugar refinery to soft drink companies, flour and confectioners among others .
“African labour movement is excited about the bold corporate decision of the Dangote Group to open many Manufacturing plants in Cameroon, South Africa, Zambia and Congo, Ethiopia and Tanzania”.
Comrade Aremu said 63rd birthday of Aliko took place at the time Covid-19 had claimed over 101,000 lives globally with about 1.6 million cases with attendant disrupted global supply and production chains.
He said the current economic crisis caused by Coronavirus pandemic validated the corporate vision of Aliko Dangote “that Africa must produce what we consume and eradicate import dependence”.
“Aliko is an entrepreneur who truly saw tomorrow: that the way for Africa’s sustainable development is import substitution. Dangote’s investment patriotism remains unparalleled and that his investments in many sectors have been a key factor behind Nigeria’s emerging economy.”
”The lesson of Dangote Group’s that diversification is not the same as replacing extractive crude oil with another extractive solid mineral but in beneficiation, and value addition in production chains.”
The labour leader also commended Aliko for collaborating with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to lead the Private Sector Coalition Against COVID-19 by mobilizing resources to increase general public awareness and provide needed support to healthcare facilities during the crisis.
Comrade Aremu said Aliko Dangote who personally donated N2 billion to support the coalition against COVID-19 has been “an all season giver” to worthy humanitarian causes such as eradication of polio, construction of N7 billion hospital at the Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital in Kano, N600 million Business School in Bayero University Kano, provision of boreholes for many communities in the North through Dangote Foundation.
Aremu assured the entrepreneur of constructive collaboration in investment and productivity improvement as well defense of workers’s rights to decent work, freedom of association as well as occupational health and safety at this critical period of COVID-19 and beyond.
