40 Female Fashion Designers Graduate from Dangote Cement's Fashion Programme
Forty women from Kogi State have graduated from Dangote Cement Plc's fashion design programme.
Plant Director of Dangote Cement Plc, Obajana, Mr JV Gungune, spoke at the program's graduation ceremony on Thursday, stating that the scheme's goal was to aid the government in its efforts to create new jobs.
Mr Gungune said that the company's vision and mission are a good fit for the job creation scheme, but the company cannot create jobs for everyone. To his point, he mentioned that the skill-building initiative was yet another way to help the people of Kogi State find work.
The Plant Director congratulated the participants on being chosen and trained for the programme and urged them to make good use of the company's training and resources.
Mr Wakeel Olayiwola, Head of Social Performance at Dangote Cement Plc, added that the empowerment was just one of many such interventions among host communities that Dangote Cement Plc was carrying out all over Africa.
Mr Olayiwola is hopeful that the graduates will inspire a new generation of graduates to follow in their footsteps through apprenticeship, improving the economic situation in Kogi State.
Mr Ademola Adeyemi, the plant's General Manager of Special Duties, said that ten women were chosen from each of the four communities that make up the plant and the mining communities: Oyo, Iwaa, Apata, and Obajana.
The National Directorate for Employment, Mr Adeyemi said, was collaborating on the training programme (NDE).
Mr Abubakar Zakari, NDE's state coordinator in Kogi, said the training was intensive and lasted three months. He also thanked the company for sponsoring the programme and praised it as an admirable effort to empower women.
Communities' elders gave the company high marks for its "huge intervention," as the elders put it.
Thanks to His Royal Highness the Olu-Apata, Oba Dr. Frederick D.O. Balogun, the community of Olu-Apata has pledged its unwavering support for the company.
Idowu Isenibi, Bajana of Obajana, remarked that "the joy of the community knows no bound“ as he implored beneficiaries to make judicious use of the skill acquired from the program.
Mrs Titilayo Onimola, 33, spoke on behalf of the recipients and praised Dangote Group President, Aliko Dangote, thanking God for blessings that have already been bestowed upon the Dangote Group.