Dangote Granite Mines, a subsidiary of Dangote Group, has awarded scholarships to no fewer than 60 students in five host communities in Ogun State.

The management of the company said the scholarship was in furtherance of its efforts at ensuring that its host communities are not left behind in terms of development, especially in the area of education and infrastructure.

Beneficiaries of the scholarship were drawn from the five host communities to Dangote Granite Mines which include Ajebandele; Olorunmodi Ademowo; Saliu Baba Risi; Idi-Omo, and Ijebu-Igbo township. The scholarship covers both secondary and higher institution students.

The Director, Human Assets Management, Dangote Projects, Ebenezer Fola Ali, who handed over the cheques to each of the awardees, explained that the scholarship was meant to help the parents of the beneficiaries to lessen the burden the education of their children placed on them.

Ali added that the scholarship was part of the agreements reached with the leadership of the host communities during the signing of the Community Development Agreement (CDA).

Ali urged the beneficiaries to face their education, saying they would be given automatic employment if they performed well academically.

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He thanked the communities’ leaders for creating an atmosphere of peace in the area and for showing the understanding that has led to the tranquility being enjoyed by the company and the communities.

He assured the communities of the company’s readiness to do its own part of the agreement in ensuring that it identified with the people at all times.

An Ijebu Igbo Monarch, the Sopenlukale of Oke Sopen, Oba Adesesan Yussuf, thanked the management of Dangote Group for the assistance rendered to the communities.

The monarch said the scholarship indicated that the company was community friendly and committed to giving back to society hence deserving of all the support the communities could muster.

Yussuf urged the beneficiaries not to take the scholarship for granted and see it as a show of love for the host communities.

He advised the members of the communities to continue to maintain peace, saying it was only when there was peace that the company could help the communities better.

One of the beneficiaries, Grace Aregbe Oluwadamilola of Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), thanked the company for the kind gesture.

She said the scholarship would go a long way in lessening the financial hardship they would encounter in school.

She promised that the beneficiaries would not let down the company and their parents and also prayed for the well-being of the chairman of the company, Aliko Dangote.

The Star