The reopening of Dangote Cement plant Gboko in Benue state on Friday, February 1, by the management came as a relief to the people of the state, especially those who earn their daily bread from the company.
The factory, which sources said will for now operate at half capacity, was closed down last year as a result of the glut in the domestic cement market.
The decision to reopen the plant was reached immediately after a meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan and the Chairman of Dangote Cement, AlhajiAlikoDangote in Abuja.
Giving reasons for the reopening, a source in Dangote Cement said, “Since the shutdown of the plant, the government has been engaging local cement manufacturers in discussions, trying to find solutions to the challenges facing the industry.
The establishment of the cement company at inception, no doubt, created several job opportunities for the youths and women in the state. It also enhanced investment and boosted revenue generation of the state. The company was later sold to Dangote Group of Companies during the former Governor George Akume’s administration.
The people and government of Benue state had protested the closure of plant when it happened last year.
LEADERSHIP Sunday investigations showed that the development, instead of further enhancing the investment capacity of the state, has resulted in untold hardship to the people.
The chairman of Gboko Local Government Area of Benue state Mr. Nahan Zenda, decried the closure of the Dangote plant, saying his local government has lost about N15million to the development.
In his lamentation, “Since the company was closed down, cement prices have gone up. Our people have been jobless and suffering. It may also lead to anti-social behaviours. Our women who are doing petty businesses outside the gate of the company are also complaining bitterly”, he lamented.
He said the industry was uplifting the economic standard of the state but that the current situation has caused a lot of difficulties to the people of the area.
The council boss lamented the scarcity and hike in the cement prices even though the cement plant was situated in the agrarian state.
The chairman of the Quarry community in Tse-Kucha, Mr. Donald Tser also regretted that the closure of the factory halted all commercial activities in Gboko Local Government.
He added, “We are afraid that our children may resort to anti-social behaviour and this is dangerous for Nigeria.
Mrs. Grace John, who spoke on behalf of the women traders in Gboko, said social and commercial activities virtually came to a halt during the period the cement company was closed down.
The re-opening of the Gboko cement plant came just as the Federal Government, through the minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. OlusegunAganga, intervened in the manufacturers-importers face-off, saying the manufacturers have saved the nation N200 billion in foreign exchange in 2012 that could have gone into cement importation.
It would be recalled that Dangote Group of Company had in a statement attributed the glut in the cement industry to massive importation of the product in the region.
The state’s Commissioner for Information, Mr. Conrad Werbga said, “Importation impacts negatively on the economy. It causes lots of ripples. It comes with attendant negative consequences for our nation. The Federal Government must do all it could to reverse the trend. We must start looking inward. It is very worrisome for the Benue people because the closure of Dangote Cement will come with socio-economic consequences for our people.”
The Cement Manufacturer Association of Nigeria (CMAN) has also warned that Nigeria risks losing huge investment as a result of the unnecessary importation of cement.
The chairman of CMAN, Joseph Makoju was quoted as saying, “Energy cost accounts for over 35 per cent of production cost in Nigeria, whereas it is 10 per cent in China. In Nigeria, the price of LPFO has jumped from N25 per litre to N107.76 per litre as at November 2012, an increase of 331 per cent. Haulage is another factor that is out of the control of manufacturers. Haulage cost alone accounts for between 20 and 25 per cent of the open market price of cement. All bulk products are affected by this factor due to deplorable state of Nigerian roads.”
He decried the glut situation, saying the 18.5 million tons of cement production target reached by local producers was at risk.