By Sunday Etuka, Abuja
Prominent Traditional rulers from Dangote Cement Ibese host communities have applauded the leadership style of the outgoing Plant Director, Azad Nawabuddin.
They said, his pleasant personality has boosted the cordial relationship between the cement company and the host communities.
The Monarchs gave the commendation during a send-forth ceremony organized for Nawabuddiny by the Ibese Plant to bid him farewell to Obajana where he had been transferred, as the monarchs one after the other took turns to shower encomium on him.
The Aboro of Ibeseland, Oba Rotimi Mulero described the erstwhile Plant Director as a bridge builder whose leadership and administrative style have influenced better collaborations between the host communities and the Dangote Cement in so many areas.
He said the communities witnessed good projects and enjoyed employment-enhancing empowerment programmes during the time of Nawabuddin as the Plant Director and would have wished he stayed longer. “Nevertheless, we are happy that the company management recognized his worth and has decided to second him to a bigger plant after all, the reward for hard work is more work.”
In his remarks, the Olu of Aga Olowo, Oba Kayode Adio Kusoro, said the relationship between the host communities and the Dangote Cement, Ibese has never been more cordial than during the tenure of Mr. Nawabuddin as the Plant Director and that his disposition to the community issues has been very commendable.
“The Plant Director is a good man. He listens to us. He is always concerned whenever we have issues to sort out. And that is why he has also enjoyed our cooperations, the communities, the youths, the women and the royal fathers.”, Olu of Aga Olowo stated.
Amidst applause from the staff and the guests, the Head, Social Performance, Ibese Plant, Mr. Ade Ojolowo as part of gestures to eulogize the former Ibese Plant Director and described his administration as very eventful while reeling out some milestones that characterized the stay of Mr. Nawabuddin as the head of the cement plant.
Said he: permit me to share with this gathering, some of the key indicators of the outstanding performance of Mr. Nawabuddin Azad in the course of his leadership of this Plant. His time marked an Increase in Ibese Plant Kilns’ Mean Time Before Failure(MTBF) and a reduction in production downtime: Ibese Plant’s Year End average Kilns MTBF was between 181 to 200 minutes until Mr. Azad became the Plant Director. He introduced the use of Asonic Horns and ID fans tipping in all the four Lines to get to the current level of between 580 to 600 minutes. This is over 90% above the budgeted figure of 300 minutes and has led to a significant reduction in production downtime.
“Production volume and dispatch increase: The Plant also witnessed an increase in cement production volume from about 6.7 million tons in 2018 to about 7.9 million tons and an increase in Cement Dispatch to about 8.0 million tons under the leadership of Mr. Azad.
“In-house refurbishment of Rollers and attendant Forex Savings: DCP used to procure Raw Mills & Cement Mills Roller assemblies for replacement from overseas before Mr. Azad joined Ibese as PD. Procurement of these roller assemblies was stopped through his ingenuity, and in-house refurbishment of the old rollers commenced. This has been successfully implemented to date, with savings of over 500,000 Euros so far.
“Championing of Alternative Fuels Project: Ibese Plant is at the forefront of the DCP’s vision to get into International carbon trading after benchmarking its carbon footprint. Thanks to the introduction of the Alternative Fuels Project, which also has led to the stoppage of importation of expensive & high CO2 emission factor, coal. Agro-waste usage and substitution of coal saved the company 2.77 million USD and 17.3 million USD in the year 2022 and 2023 respectively, and the saving is expected to go higher in 2024 due to the just completed AF projects in all the four lines.
“As a friend of the community, Mr. Azad’s passion for the local communities as critical stakeholders to the Plant is outstanding. Our modest achievements in Social Performance in the last couple of years have been through his personal values and commitment, which have yielded unhindered support and collaboration. We have been able to record some firsts in our intervention programmes, including the Annual community day event; Women empowerment programme; Care for the elders, Support for the vulnerable during festive periods, etc. It is also to his adulation that we have recorded improved social investment delivery, improved relationship with key government functionaries, and overall local content development.”
