NaijaTalkTalk- Four times Dangote stepped up to take responsibility for the Nigerian government short falls

The visit to Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, Halima Dangote, the Chief Executive of the Dangote Foundation, announced that a new N7 billion operating theater and diagnostic center will be ready by 2016. The facility which has been named Mariya Sanusi Dantata hospital is being built on the grounds of Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital (MMSH). It will have 10 operating centers, intensive care units, patient wards and administrative rooms for doctors and nurses.

This news is a welcome development from the alleged standstill of the project earlier in the year. Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital, the oldest general hospital in Kano has the largest inflow of patients in the state. However, the singular theater and surgical unit has become too small to meet up with its demands. According to the Guardian, “the theater is being shared on a daily basis by various professionals for different operations.”

While laying the foundation of the surgical and diagnostic center, Alhaji Aliko Dangote noted that providing these amenities was not meant to foster a competitive status in the state, but rather fulfil the foundation’s social responsibility to the Nigerian public.

Apart from building a hospital in Kano, here are some of the ways in which Dangote has pushed impactful philanthropic initiatives for the country.

1. Polio Drive

In 2012, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation partnered with Dangote Foundation in order to curtail the spread of polio in Kano State. The partnership was responsible for the sufficient supply of routine immunization vaccines and other consumables, the training of health personnel and timely/adequate release of funds. A sum of $6 billion was reportedly donated and as a result, the number of Wild Polio Viruses in Kano dropped from 28 to three. According to Kano State governor, the state will soon receive its polio-free certificate.

2. Human Capital Development

In 2013, Kogi state was ravaged with floods, which affected the trade and farmlands of many people living in the state. On a visit to the state, Dangote pledged about N230 million to Kogi women as a special grant in order for them to embark on their various trades.

3. Power Plant

On November 30, Dangote group announced that it had concluded plans to build a power generation plant that will produce 500 megawatts electricity in Kano. According to Mansur Ahmed “The resolve of the Dangote Group to invest in power generation is a move to help address the challenge of electricity outages that has being having crippling effect on industrial activities in country, particularly in Kano, and its environs. The company choice to site the project in Kano, as a way to resuscitate manufacturing, and other productive operations that is on the verge of completes extinction as a result of electricity outages. The power plant is going to generate about 500 megawatt that will serve Kano and it neighboring states of Jigawa, Katsina, and some parts of Kaduna.”

4. Oil Refinery

By 2017, the $9 billion oil refinery currently under construction will be completed. It will reportedly produce 600,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Reputed to be the world’s largest refinery, Dangote hopes that the refinery will enable Nigeria to be self-reliant in the production of petroleum products.