NIGERIA: Lagos Seals Cement Deal with Dangote, Lafarge

Lagos State Government at the weekend unveiled a new deal with Dangote Cement Plc and Lafarge Cement WAPCO Plc.

The collaboration is to ensure undisrupted supplies of cement products to the construction firms billed to handle various infrastructural projects, which the state government would embark on in the future.

The state government also put the number of jobs created through infrastructural renewal between 2007 and 2012 at 148,000, which it said, were created by the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure alone apart from those created through the Ministries of Environment and of Health.

Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat revealed the details at a media session in the state secretariat, Alausa, where he said the state government had started looking into cement mix as an alternative method in road construction; taking cognisance of the terrain of the state.

Hamzat explained that Governor Babatunde Fashola had engaged both Dangote Cement Plc and Lafarge Cement WAPCO Plc to guarantee the stable supplies of cement to the state’s contractors, noting that the two cement manufacturing giants had promised to meet the requirements of the state’s contractors.

He said: “We are looking into the use of concrete now that we have a lot of cement in the country. We have met Dangote and Lafarge to see how they can assist us with our contractors. There was a time Governor Fashola mentioned that a lot of our contractors are complaining because of the cost of importation.”

He lamented the cost of cement importation as one of the reasons responsible for high cost of road construction and urged the Federal Government “to restore the rail so that it can be an alternative route. It is a miracle that our road lasts this long. We are looking into the use of concrete mix now that we have enough cement”.

Speaking also on job creation, Hamzat said, “As the last count between 2007 and 2012, the state government has created about 148,000 jobs. That does not include what we have done in 2012 because we allow it to lapse for 6 months before we collate data. The truth is that those are the direct jobs, which generate indirect jobs.