Politics
In all, a total of N160,000 million were given to the rural women in a funfair event, held in Moro Local Government area of Kwara State.
He said “This Aliko Dangote Foundation empowerment program will impact positively on the socio-economic activity of our state. We are so pleased with this and cannot thank Aliko Dangote enough. We don’t want people to come and unnecessarily populate the urban areas, we want to encourage people to stay in the rural areas and add value to the respective lives and also to the state economy. This indeed is a noble gesture”
Dangote’s Group Executive Director, Government and Strategic Relations, Eng. Ahmed Mansur, who represented Aliko Dangote said “…To Aliko Dangote, whom much is given, much is expected. Dangote is being blessed by Allah and he enjoys sharing some of his blessings with the people around him. This investment in the rural areas will circulate well in these rural areas and also boost the economy of the state eventually…We are going to do this on all the local governments in Nigeria.
She said: ” … the focus is on women because we all need to note that once you support a woman, you are supporting the whole family and the multiplier effect of that will be very great… We have done several states in the past and today we are also doing for Kwara, empowering 1,000 women for each of the 16 local governments in Kwara. Each of the women gets 10,000 each, to be disbursed immediately and concluded within the next three weeks all across the state…
It would be recalled that the same ADF recently launched a major philanthropic program in Zamfara State, doling out food items running into several millions of naira to support victims of insurgency.
The farmers-herders clash and sporadic attacks by cattle rustlers have displaced thousands, many of whom are currently seeking refuge at Maradun Local Government Area of the State.
According to official reports over 3,000 people have been killed, about 100,000 displaced, of which about 30,000 are in Maradun LG, and over 500 people kidnapped.
Group Executive Director Government Relations and Strategic Relations Mansur Ahmed who presented the food items on behalf of the Group President Aliko Dangote said the Foundation was supporting the government and traditional leaders in meeting the needs of the IDPs.
Only recently Mr. Dangote was rated the world’s 6th largest donors and Africa’s richest person for almost a decade. His Aliko Dangote Foundation has been endowed with a staggering $1.25billion. He was also listed by Forbes Magazine among the 75 people that make the world turn.
Dangote Foundation had also injected over N7billion to create succor in North East in the wake of the Boko Haram insurgency.
Ahmed, an engineer, said Dangote was very disturbed about the plight of the displaced persons and quickly directed that everything possible is done to provide succor.
Ahmed said the company was building a 200000-ton capacity of rice mill in Maradun and that when completed this year it would create hundreds of job opportunities for the people of Zamfara State.
Responding, the Emir of Maradun Muhammad Garba Tambari said he was highly elated as the company is the first to intervene by providing food support for displaced persons.
He commended Dangote for the gesture and promise to help secure his investment in his Emirate.
It would also be recalled that the Federal government, also recently revealed that the N1.2billion hostel donated by the Aliko Dangote Foundation to Ahmadu Bello University Zaria is the single largest donation by an individual in history of Universities in Nigeria.
The President said: “You have done what no other Nigerian has done since 1948 when the first university was founded. This is the single largest intervention by any individual in any university in this country in the 70 years history of our university. So I congratulate Alhaji Aliko Dangote.”
A visibly elated Governor of Kaduna State Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai who is also an alumnus of the university hailed Alhaji Aliko Dangote for the giant project.
He described Dangote’s generosity as unprecedented, especially his support for education.
Speaking the Vice-Chancellor of the University Professor Ibrahim Garba said Dangote will forever remain dear to the Ahmadu Bello University.
He added:” The student population of ABU is over 50,000, made up of about 35,000 undergraduates and about 15,000 postgraduates. Every year, 11,500 undergraduates and about 6,000 postgraduates are admitted while about 6,000 undergraduates and 3,000 postgraduates respectively graduate. In any one academic year, we are only able to accommodate about 13,000 students on our two campuses.”
The vice-chancellor said:” We are happy that Alhaji Aliko Dangote has fulfilled the pledge he made in 2016 to build 10 blocks of hostels for Ahmadu Bello University’s students to improve their living conditions.
“We may accommodate six students per room. This will certainly go a long way in ameliorating the accommodation scarcity bedeviling the university.
“We thank Alhaji Aliko Dangote for his intervention, we thank members of the Aliko Dangote Foundation and the entire Dangote Family. This is unprecedented for us we can’t ask for anything more except if he thinks of anything he wants to add on his own volition.”
– Apr. 01, 2021 @ 13:20 GMT
