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Dangote Unveils Waste-to-Wealth, Recycling, Tree Planting Initiatives
As part of activities marking the 2019 Global Sustainability Week, employees of the pan-African conglomerate, the Dangote Industries Limited flagged off an environment focused initiative tagged “Waste to Wealth initiative”, focused on managing waste disposal while generating income and giving back to communities wherein we operate.
The Company marked the Sustainability Week with the theme: “Our Community, Our Passion” with various activities held in the Lagos and across its Business Units and plants. These activities focused on investment programmes directed towards turning waste to wealth, and reviving reading culture in young children in host communities.
In Lagos, over 200 Sustainability Champions and employee volunteers across the business units, assisted five international facilitators to train the children on turning the most insignificant materials and waste in the environment into tangible assets of economic value to the nation.
Dangote employees took the initiative to St. George Primary School and Aunty Ayo International School in Ikoyi, where the facilitators, with additional help from the volunteers, trained the children on how to manage their wastes and create sustainable products that are marketable from their everyday generated wastes.
Speaking on the initiative, the Group Chief Sustainability and Governance, Dangote Industries Limited, Dr. Ndidi Nnoli, said the company’s sustainability approach is driven by a desire to contribute and impact positively towards the development of host communities and the society at large.
According to her, the 2019 Sustainability Week is directed towards safeguarding the environment by educating the host communities on how to turn waste to wealth to achieve sustainable development.
She said, “We chose St. Georges School because the school is a neighbour to Dangote Head Office building in Ikoyi. Charity begins at home. We started to engender the sustainability culture as an employee volunteering initiative. We honestly believe that people are at the centre of any organisation and sustainability needs to begin with the individual person. It is a culture in Dangote to celebrate the sustainability week every year and this year we decided to bring it to a neighbouring school”.
“It is so important that we bring the initiative to the schools around us because we need to be very concerned about our children, their future, and most especially, education outside the classroom. We need to be concerned about educating our children on sustainability beyond the definition”, she added.
Nnoli disclosed that the company brought international artists to educate the employees that the type of waste that can easily be thrown into the trash can, could be transformed into usable items. “We have people making bangles and pencil cases out of waste plastics. We also have literacy session, mentoring and above all, we are learning about why it is necessary to hunger for knowledge”.
She noted that the Dangote Group has a responsibility to the environment and the society. “We are looking for ways to ensure that value is added to things around us. We have many volunteers who are so eager to learn and impact knowledge to the children. The children are also very excited to learn on new ways to transform the environment.
“For us at Dangote, it is social responsibility and also corporate services, but in this case, the employees have volunteered to carry out this initiative. But the organisation has given us the license to do whatever we want to do. So, as Dangote employees, we have chosen to stand for sustainability, we stand for social development and we stand for the education of a child”, she said.
Giving insight into the programme, the Group Chief Human Resources Officer, Dangote Cement Plc, Dr. Musa Rabiu, said the company’s intention was to create an environment “where we keep improving on how we operate and interact with the environment and regarding people as the most valuable assets”.
He said the company organised the programme to touch the hearts and minds of children who are the next generation by teaching them how to re-use trash.
Rabiu said the initiative was all about reigniting children’s creative ability through innovation by leveraging on technology. “We need to let them know that managing the environment in terms of creativity and innovation is key. With this knowledge, the children are expected to grow up and be conscious of how they can re-use materials in the environment”, he added.
General Manager, Sustainability, Dangote Cement Plc, Eunice Samson, said the company’s intention was to ensure that Dangote employees key into the Group’s vision and volunteer to reach out to the local communities through value addition.
She said the theme for this year’s Sustainability Week “Our Community, Our Passion, the Dangote Way” was a way to make the host community to begin to see the social side of Dangote. “So, for Dangote, it is not always all about business; we also care about the wellbeing of our host communities. With this programme today, we have been able to reach out to over 600 pupils from St. George Primary School and Aunty Ayo International School, Ikoyi, Lagos.
“What we are trying to do is to ensure that we clear the environment of waste by turning it into wealth. We have over 200 Dangote employees who have volunteered to assist the facilitators to teach the children how to turn waste to wealth. The children have been taught how to turn waste plastic bottles into pencil cases, bangles, piggy banks, as well as using used Dangote Cement bags to create gardens” she added.
Speaking also at the event, the Managing Director of African Creative Hub, Jumoke Olowookere, said her responsibility was to teach the participants on how to create a sustainable world without wastes through upcycling wastes towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The lawmaker representing Ibarapa East/Ido Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Engr. Aderemi Oseni, has mourned the death of a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State and former member of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon. Akeem Abimbola Oladipupo, popularly known as Able, describing his demise as a painful loss to the progressive family.
Oladipupo, who represented Ibadan North-West Constituency in the Oyo State House of Assembly, was widely regarded as a grassroots politician and committed party loyalist until his passing.
Oseni, who is also the Chairman, House Committee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency and the APC candidate for Oyo South Senatorial District, said the late politician’s death had created a vacuum within the party and among those who benefitted from his unwavering commitment to public service.
In a condolence statement issued on Monday by his Media Aide, Idowu Ayodele, and made available to journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, the federal lawmaker described the late Oladipupo as a dependable progressive, humble political actor and loyal party stalwart whose impact would remain indelible.
He said the deceased dedicated his life to serving humanity, strengthening the progressive movement and supporting the aspirations of many at the grassroots.
Oseni said, “The death of Hon. Akeem Abimbola Oladipupo (Able) came to me as a rude shock. Oyo State and the progressive family have indeed lost a committed, loyal and selfless leader whose passion for service, humility and dedication to the people stood him out.
“He was not just a politician but a bridge-builder, a dependable ally and a grassroots mobiliser who believed strongly in the ideals of our great party. His contributions to the growth of the APC in Oyo State and his service to humanity will remain unforgettable.”
The APC senatorial candidate noted that the late former lawmaker remained steadfast in promoting peace, unity and political development, adding that his simplicity and accessibility endeared him to many across political divides.
According to Oseni, the late politician’s legacy of service and sacrifice would continue to inspire younger politicians and party faithful.
He, however, urged members of the APC, associates and family members of the deceased to take solace in the remarkable life he lived and the positive impact he made during his lifetime.
Oseni also prayed for the repose of the deceased’s soul and for God to grant his family the fortitude to bear the painful loss.
State governors have proposed a new national minimum wage of N100,000 for Nigerian workers as part of efforts to cushion them from the biting effects of inflation and the rising cost of living.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), disclosed the proposal on Saturday in a post by the state government’s official Facebook page. He said the move aims to improve workers’ welfare while ensuring that government finances remain sustainable.
“State governments recognise the urgent need to improve workers’ welfare in response to the current economic realities facing Nigerians,” AbdulRazaq said.
“We are actively engaging with the Federal Government and organised labour to arrive at a wage structure that is fair to workers and sustainable for government finances.”
The NGF chairman explained that ongoing discussions are focused on balancing the need to boost workers’ purchasing power with the capacity of governments to deliver essential public services and development projects.
“The goal is to improve the living conditions of workers while ensuring that states can continue to meet their obligations and sustain projects that directly impact citizens,” he added.
The proposed N100,000 minimum wage is expected to intensify national debates on salaries, inflation, and broader economic reforms as Nigerians continue to contend with rising food prices, transportation costs, and other living expenses.
Currently, Nigeria’s statutory minimum wage stands at N70,000 per month. Some states, including Lagos, Rivers, and Imo, are already paying above the national benchmark to support workers amid the country’s economic challenges.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has continued to call for a comprehensive review of salaries, insisting that workers deserve a living wage that reflects present-day economic realities rather than merely guaranteeing survival.
The average retail price paid by consumers for Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, rose to N1,532.93 per litre in April 2026, representing a 23.69 per cent increase compared to the N1,239.33 recorded in the corresponding period of 2025, findings by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) have shown.
The sharp rise in petrol prices came amid mounting inflationary pressure and worsening living costs, with Nigerians grappling with soaring transportation and food expenses that have continued to shrink household purchasing power.
The NBS disclosed this in its Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) Price Watch for April 2026, released on Friday.
The report further showed that on a month-on-month basis, petrol prices rose by 18.97 per cent from N1,288.54 recorded in March 2026, underscoring persistent volatility in the downstream petroleum market.
A breakdown of prices across states revealed that Yobe recorded the highest average retail price for petrol at N1,599.05 per litre during the review period.
Edo and Bauchi followed closely with average prices of N1,595.74 and N1,589.07, respectively.
However, Niger residents paid the least for petrol at an average of N1,403.89 per litre, while Sokoto and Katsina recorded N1,404.16 and N1,406.28 respectively.
At the zonal level, the South-South recorded the highest average retail price at N1,566.76 per litre, while the North-West posted the lowest at N1,508.81.
The latest petrol price increase comes as millions of Nigerians continue to battle the ripple effects of rising inflation, with higher energy costs worsening transportation fares and the prices of essential commodities.
Similarly, the NBS said the average retail price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, also known as cooking gas, rose by 13.73 per cent month-on-month to N8,706.93 in April 2026 from N7,655.73 recorded in March.
On a year-on-year basis, the price increased by 10.42 per cent from N7,885.60 recorded in April 2025.
Lagos recorded the highest average price for refilling a 5kg cylinder at N9,745.10, followed by Nasarawa at N9,451.70 and Bayelsa at N9,422.74.
In contrast, Anambra recorded the lowest average price at N7,204.76, while Ondo and Ogun followed with N7,239.49 and N7,825.75, respectively.
At the regional level, the North-West recorded the highest average retail price for refilling a 5kg cylinder at N9,025.07, followed by the North-East at N8,847.16, while the South-East posted the lowest average price at N8,224.37.
Also, the average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of cooking gas increased by 13.89 per cent month-on-month to N22,382.20 in April 2026 from N19,652.83 in March.
Compared to April 2025, the price rose by 10.43 per cent from N20,268.06.
According to the NBS LPG Price Watch for April, Katsina recorded the highest average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder at N25,596.71, followed by Kogi at N24,558.25 and Gombe at N24,438.97.
Ogun recorded the lowest average price at N19,564.36, while Bauchi and Anambra followed at N20,178.87 and N20,511.90 respectively.
The North-West recorded the highest zonal average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder at N23,276.95, followed by the North-Central at N22,865.29, while the South-East posted the lowest average at N21,060.92.
The latest figures signal growing pressure on household energy costs, raising concerns over the implications for inflation and the cost of living in the coming months.
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