Founder and President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote on Saturday pledged to construct a hostel valued at N550 million for the students at Federal University of Technology (FUTO), Owerri, Imo State.
Mr Dangote, according to a statement, equally made a donation of N25 million to the students of the institution via their student union government.
Mr Dangote was at the institution to deliver a public lecture on Enterprise, Leadership and Service to Humanity.
He said the hostel when completed will help to alleviate the shortages of accommodation for FUTO students.
In his presentation, the foremost industrialist encouraged the students with the history of his humble beginning in business as a distributor of bagged cement and other items. He said that despite making money by trading in commodities, he decided to embark on a backward integration process, producing locally, those goods he used to import.
He stated that importing finished products into Nigeria is equivalent to importing poverty, inflation and unemployment while exporting raw materials. Importation of finished products creates jobs, prosperity and development in the exporting countries, he added.
According to him, the decision to embrace manufacturing is to create jobs and add value to the raw materials that were usually exported, noting that a major key in industrialisation is looking inwards, that investors in the industrial sector should come from the citizens.
He added that he refuses to invest in Nigeria and Africa, no foreign investor will be willing to stake his funds here.
Drawing examples from Asia, he said, ‘Asian economies powered by Asians not foreign investment. They are the ones who invested in their countries. They did not wait for foreigners to come and develop their economies.’
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Turning to the students, he said Nigerian youths are endowed with innovative spirit and could hold their own anywhere around the globe. He stated that many fresh graduates of engineering who were recruited and trained by Dangote Refinery and Fertiliser have been poached by companies in the Gulf region who treat them as expatriates.
“We face significant economic and social challenges, but we also sit on enormous opportunities: a young and energetic population, abundant natural resources, and an entrepreneurial spirit that is unmatched across the continent. In my own journey through business and industry, entrepreneurship has shown itself to be one of the most powerful tools for transforming challenges into opportunities.
“When young people are equipped with technical skills, mentorship, and access to capital, they do not just seek jobs – they create them. They build enterprises that diversify our economy beyond oil, strengthen local industries, and fuel sustainable development.”
He challenged the students to be innovative and creative, ready to learn and adapt as to be able to add value to the society. Drawing examples from China, he told the students that China has the highest number of people in the engineering field, which has made the country the leading centre of manufacturing and industrial development.
