The donation of the school, which is meant to serve the Abejoye community in the Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos, is coming on the heels of the provision of empowerment to farmers in the area whose land falls into the area taken over by the state government and designated as part of the free trade zone.
According to the Dangote Fertilser management, the classrooms, built as part of the Corporate Social Responsibility efforts of the company, are to serve as a replacement for the Abejoye Primary School, which incidentally was part of the free trade zone area allocated to Dangote Fertiliser Limited, but relocated to Abejoye community. The facilities include staff rooms, a head teacher’s office, restrooms, a power generator, and a borehole.
Speaking at the handover ceremony in Lagos, the Group Executive Director, Strategy Capital Projects and Portfolio Development, Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, pledged the company’s continuous commitment to the provision of quality education, not only within the host community, but in the country at large.
According to him, Dangote’s support for educational development involves assisting host communities to provide sustainable and qualitative education that ultimately reaches all the people. This, he said, involved active consultation with the host communities, stakeholders at stages of development planning, implementation, and evaluation.
“Currently, we have installed 14 boreholes in our host communities between 2017 and 2018 and we conducted regular lab tests to ensure the water from the boreholes are potable. In 2019, we held a Teachers Training Workshop for teachers within the host communities and Epe in conjunction with Lagos State Ministry of Education, to develop the capacities of public school teachers to teach more effectively using 21st-century modalities,” he added.
The Executive Chairman of Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB), Mr Wahab Alawiye-King, who was represented at the event by Mrs Ebaide Omokore, Director of Projects Department, appreciated Dangote Fertiliser for funding the project, stating that the state government was committed to delivering all-inclusive, quality basic education in a conducive environment for learning aided by technology.
Also, speaking at the event, Chairman, Lekki Local Council Development Area, Lagos State, Ogidan Olaitan, commended Dangote Fertiliser Limited for the gesture, saying Dangote Fertiliser has proven to be a socially responsible company, which has the interest of the community at heart.
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