Dangote Refinery: Raising the Bar in Host Community Development

As part of industrial reforms, the Federal Government recently initiated the Petroleum Host and Impacted Communities Development Bill 2018 (tagged the “Bill” or “Host Community Bill”) with regard to the Nigerian Petroleum Industry.

The objective of the Bill is to provide direct social and economic benefits from petroleum operations to host and impacted communities. The Bill seeks to enhance peaceful and harmonious coexistence between companies on one hand and host and impacted communities on the other.

To ensure that host communities benefit from the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical investment, the company has identified 10 host communities and five neighbouring communities in its areas of operation in Ibeju Lekki. The main host communities are Idasho, Ilekuru, Okeyanta, Magbo-Segun, Okesegun, Itoke, Idotun, Alasia, Okunraiye and Lekki towns, while neighbouring communities are Imobido, Tiye, Mosa, Ilege and Olomowewe.

In this regard, the company unveiled a Corporate Social Responsibility development plan, which is centred around the wellbeing of the people, especially its host communities in Ibeju Lekki. In Ibeju Lekki, the company has executed several projects that are helping to enhance the lives of the people. It has provided boreholes for all the communities, classrooms for the local schools and also awarded scholarships to 51 secondary school students.

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals, National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and Nigerian Content Development and Management Board (NCDMB), recently kicked off a vocational training programme of the Youth in Ibeju Lekki; a project designed to equip young men and women with trade skills.

This programme is another level of the Dangote Refinery’s intervention as it was targeted at providing vocational skills to the​ teeming youth population in its host communities. Youths are veritable assets in any society and the quality of the youths determines the outlook of tomorrow’s society. Therefore, an investment in developing vocational skills among youths is expected to yield the desired results.

To bridge the gap in Nigeria’s education sector and allow it contribute effectively to economic development, Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals has taken up a proactive measure by embarking on an integrated tripartite approach to boost quality of education in the public schools around its host communities. This approach includes a scholarship programme for students, a Train-The-Trainers Capacity Building Initiative for teachers and school infrastructure projects to improve school infrastructure.

Teachers were exposed to 21st Century best practices in “Cognitive Development and Impact on Learning” as well as “Effective Pedagogical Skills”. Personal action plans produced at the end of the two-day Professional Development Programme are expected to motivate the teachers to implement their plans.