PICTURE CAPTION
President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, with President Muhammadu Buhari, during the visit by the Management and Board of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), in Abuja on Friday
By Bassey Udo
For the country to attain real economic growth and development, President Muhamadu Buhari on Friday urged Nigerians in business to learn from the entrepreneurial spirit and doggedness of the President of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Aliko Dangote.
Buhari was speaking while receiving members of the Board of Directors of Dangote Group, led by Dangote at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
While thanking the Management and Board of Dangote Group for the courage and foresight to invest in mega projects to grow its various lines of business, Buhari said this has created enduring legacies that would benefit generations of Nigerians.
“I have no doubt that the bold decisions on mega investments in the country can only be conceived by a mindset that transcends conventional personal commercial viability considerations,” Buhari said.
“Entrepreneurs such as Alhaji Aliko Dangote are unique gifts to their societies and the institutions they build, and they often become the pillars of stable enduring prosperous economies,” the President added.
“I therefore urge other Nigerians in the business sector to emulate this iconic entrepreneur by investing in such enterprises that will, in time, become worthy legacies as national assets, which will continue to benefit their people for generation after generation, creating firm anchors of enduring prosperity for their citizens,” he said.
Further commending Dangote and his team for investing in areas that bring the highest benefits to Nigerians, the President recalled his visit to the Dangote Free Zone a month ago to commission the new 3 million metric tonnes capacity Dangote fertiliser plant.
He reiterated his observation at the event, saying the coming on stream of the fertilizer plant was a huge opportunity to ramp up the productivity of the country’s agricultural sector and a booster to the government’s strategy for achieving food security and poverty reducrion. 
Given recent developments globally, especially the effect of the ongoing war in Europe on world-wide food supply chain, the President commended Dangote Group for its foresight in bringing the plant into operation at the time it did.
Despite the pressures the market realities would bring on Dangote Fertiliser Limited in seeking to meet the demands of its export customers, he said considering the Group’s patriotic vision, he was confident they would accord priority to meeting local demands of the local farmers.
President Buhari also commended Dangote Group for extending investments to other African countries, saying it highlights the vision behind the development of the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical complex.
In his remarks, the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote said the Board was at the State House to express profound appreciation to the President for the great honour to have commissioned the new 3million tons per annum Fertiliser plant, reputed to be the latest subsidiary of the Dangote Industries Limited.
Dangoted used the opportunity to reiterate tbe Group’s gratitude for the government’s sustained effort through various policy initiatives aimed at progressively improving the business environment and investment climate, despite some unprecedented challenges the economy has been confronted with over the past decade.
He expressed happiness over the direct interventions by the government at various times to support the Group’s operations when faced with challenges concerning certain economic policies.
The President’s personal interventions, he said, not only helped to resolve business challenges, but also have been a source of great encouragement in the Group’s determination to continue to invest in the country’s economy for the benefit of the people.
Dangote said the Board looked forward to the return of President Buhari to commission the Oil Refineries and Petrochemicals project, which would significantly transform the Nigerian economy.
“Through the outputs of our various businesses, our Group is proud to be making significant contributions to the diversification and growth of our nation’s economy, which is second only to Federal Government in terms of the size of our workforce,” he added.
The leader of the Dangote Group said with more investments in agriculture and Oil and Gas sectors, greater impact would be made on the country’s economy, adding that the Group would always hold on to the President’s vision of the economy to “produce what we consume and consume what we produce.
