Caption: Chief Controller/Chief of Staff, office of the Vice President, Dangote Industries Limited, Mr. Isa Yusuf Aruwa greets Mrs Aderemi Saka, Managing Director/ CEO, NASCON Allied Industries at the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit, Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.

Photo 2: Mrs Aderemi Saka, Managing Director/ CEO, NASCON Allied Industries, as a panellist Productivity Revolution for Growth at the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit, Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.

The Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Olakunle Alake, and the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NASCON Allied Industries Plc, Aderemi Saka, have called for greater investment in industrial hubs and value addition to accelerate Nigeria’s economic growth, strengthen local manufacturing and enhance the competitiveness of domestic industries.

Speaking at the CEO Forum of the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja, Mr. Alake, who was represented by Isa Yusuf Aruwa, said Dangote Group was taking the lead in promoting industrial hubs as catalysts for economic growth, citing the proposed Dangote Olokola Industrial Hub in Ondo State as a key example of the Group’s commitment to industrial development.

He said co-locating businesses would enable them to achieve economies of scale, reduce operational costs, generate more employment opportunities and facilitate knowledge sharing.

“An integrated industrial hub offers the opportunity to address several constraints together: energy, logistics, manufacturing infrastructure and access to markets. But the wider economic benefits will depend on how deliberately we connect the investment to the surrounding economy,” he added.

He said the “wider success of an industrial hub will be measured by the productive
businesses that grow around it.”

According to him, large industrial companies can support smaller firms through technical mentoring, supplier assessments, apprenticeships, access to testing and clearly structured procurement opportunities.

Meanwhile, speaking on ‘Productivity Revolution for Growth’ the Managing Director of NASCON Allied Industries Plc, Mrs. Aderemi Saka called for a comprehensive review of the manufacturing value chain, particularly the sourcing of raw materials, packaging inputs and other essential components required for seamless production.

“Where do the raw materials come from. Do we have small companies that can produce them locally and add value to bigger businesses. Do we have the capacity to source raw materials on a large scale to ensure seamless production?” she asked.

Saka also explained the importance of equipping workers with the technical and professional skills required to drive productivity in a rapidly evolving industrial environment.

She explained that the Dangote Group, under the leadership of its President and Chief Executive, Aliko Dangote, remains committed to nurturing young Nigerian talent through structured training programmes and targeted capacity-building initiatives.

The Dangote Industries Limited is one of the sponsors of the 32nd edition of the Nigerian Economic Summit.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had earlier commended the Dangote Group for its outstanding contributions to the Nigerian economy.

The 44 people identified as contacts of Nigeria’s confirmed Ebola patient will remain in isolation for at least three weeks.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, disclosed this Tuesday evening during an NTA interview, shortly after the ministry announced Nigeria’s first confirmed Ebola case in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

He said authorities are currently treating the case as an imported infection and not community transmission.

“At this moment, we are treating it as an imported case, not community transmission,” he said, adding that the situation could change if the virus begins to spread beyond the known contacts.

He said the 44 contacts, including healthcare workers, patients, caregivers and travel contacts, are being isolated at a designated facility in Abuja. At the same time, public health teams determine who may have been infected.

“They remain in communication with their families by phone and other ways, but not physical contact, until we clarify who is infected and who is not,” he said.

The minister said Nigeria had been conducting risk-based surveillance at points of entry for the past five months through the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and Port Health Services

He said the aviation industry had also been an important partner in the surveillance effort.

According to Mr Pate, authorities obtained the infected passenger’s travel manifest, which is helping them identify people who may have been exposed.

He said the patient was asymptomatic when she entered Nigeria and developed symptoms after arriving in the country.

“This makes it less likely that the travel itself exposed folks at risk,” Mr Pate said, while noting that authorities were still investigating the circumstances surrounding her entry into Nigeria.

The patient, an unidentified woman who recently arrived in Nigeria on an international flight from Uganda, is currently in isolation and receiving medical care at a private hospital in the FCT.