The Federal Government’s order for the immediate reopening of the Dangote Cement plant at Obajana in Kogi State sparked wild jubilation in the affected communities over the weekend.
Members of the host communities from Iwaa, Oyo, Obajana, and Apata told newsmen that they could now heave a sigh of relief as the consequences of shutting down the factory were better imagined than described, a situation which was worsened with the just suspended eight-month strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, which kept students at home across the country.
Last Friday, the National Security Council directed the reopening of the cement plant after raising concerns about job losses, potential increase in criminality and resultant unemployment in the area and the state as a consequence of the shutdown.
The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola said that an agreement had been reached between the Dangote Group and the Kogi State Government on the reopening of the factory, while urging both parties to respect the agreement.
Reacting to the latest directive, Secretary of the Association of Fresh Fish Dealers at the Obajana market, Mrs Lola Adinu said that her association members were overjoyed by the news.
A 50-year-old commercial motorist plying the 43-kilometre concrete Obajana-Kabba road that was constructed by Dangote Industries Limited, Mallam Bala Dreba said travelers from the South and from the North were apprehensive about the security of the road and its environs since the recent invasion of the company by government vigilantes. Dreba said that the road has become the most important link between the Northern and Southern parts of Nigeria.
Commercial motorcyclists, who brandished green leaves in victory, cruised in different directions on Friday evening and Saturday morning to celebrate the announcement by the Federal Government.
A 45-year-old commercial motorcyclist, Adamu Ibrahim, who has four children, lamented that commercial activities had been paralysed after the invasion of the plant by thugs. He expressed joy that the situation is now reverting to the usual economic bustle in Obajana.
A community leader, Pa Isaac Ade said the Federal Government’s announcement was welcomed with jubilation in his neighbourhood because the lives and the livelihood of the host communities revolve around Dangote Cement Plc.
“Without this company, the communities cannot survive, the markets cannot survive, the commercial motorcyclists cannot survive, and if I may add, this local government and the state, in general, will be badly affected”, he said.
Dangote Cement Plc is the biggest taxpayer and employer of labour in Kogi State. The conglomerate is a part of the Dangote Industries Limited, which is also the second largest employer of labour in Nigeria after the government, as well as the highest private-sector taxpayer to the Federal Government.
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, the Trade Union Congress, and the Shareholders Associations in Nigeria, had all berated the state government over the invasion and the closure of the cement company.
The Nigerian Association of Chamber of Commerce Industry Mines and Agriculture, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry also condemned the invasion of the plant, saying the move was capable of driving away investors in the country.
The associations said the hasty move by the state in resorting to self-help could send the wrong signal to investors within and outside the country.
A businessman at the Obajana main market, Peter Dare described the closure as worrisome, but added that activities in the market started picking up soon after the government ordered the reopening of the factory. He said thousands of people would have been impoverished if the company was not reopened.
At Iwaa, location of the multi-million naira hospital built by the Dangote Cement Plc, the story was the same, as residents jubilated.
A septuagenarian, who sought anonymity, said he had been wondering how he would offset the tuition fees of his two children in the university following the suspension of the ASUU strike over the weekend.
The Advocacy Centre for Industrialisation in Africa had expressed regret that the invasion and forceful closure of the Dangote Cement Plc at Obajana has cast a shadow on the Ease of Doing Business in the state.
The Arewa Youth Assembly, a conglomeration of youth groups in the 19 northern states, also vehemently condemned the state governor Yahaya Bello, describing his closure moves as a war against employment and the youth.
