Dangote Unveils ₦550m Hostel Plan, Donates ₦25m to Students at FUTO
Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Industries Limited, has announced plans to fund the construction of a ₦550 million hostel at Federal University of Technology Owerri as part of efforts to address student housing challenges.
The announcement was made in Owerri during a lecture he delivered on the theme, “Enterprise, Leadership and Service to Humanity.” In addition, he provided financial support of ₦25 million to students through the Student Union Government (SUG).
He noted that the proposed hostel would significantly ease accommodation pressure on campus and enhance student welfare.
While engaging with the students, Dangote highlighted the capacity of Nigerian youths to excel globally, stressing that many engineering graduates trained within his refinery and fertiliser operations have been attracted by firms in the Gulf region, where they now work as expatriates.
“We face significant economic and social challenges, but we also sit on enormous opportunity: a young and energetic population, abundant natural resources, and an entrepreneurial spirit that is unmatched across the continent.
“Entrepreneurship remains one of the strongest tools for transforming challenges into opportunities, noting that when young people are equipped with technical skills, mentorship, and access to capital, they become job creators rather than job seekers.
‘I urge you students to remain innovative, creative, and adaptable, in order to learn and position yourselves to add value to society,” he hinted.
Reflecting on his decades of business journey, he explained that his career began with trading commodities such as bagged cement before transitioning into large-scale production through backward integration.
He argued that reliance on imported finished goods weakens the local economy, while exporting unprocessed raw materials limits economic potential.
Dangote further emphasized that sustainable development depends on industrialisation driven by local investors, urging Nigerians to take responsibility for building their own economy.
“If I refuse to invest in Nigeria and Africa, no foreign investor will be willing to stake his funds here.
“Asian economies were powered by Asians, not foreign investment.
“They are the ones who invested in their countries. They did not wait for foreigners to come and develop their economies,” he stated.
