Dangote donates ₦550 million Students’ Hostel to FUTO
L-R, Vice - Chancellor Federal University Technology (FUTO) Prof. Nnenna N. Oti; President/CE, Dangote Industries Limited / Guest Lecturer on Enterprise, Leadership and service to Humanity, Aliko Dangote;Pro - Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) Senator Jack Tilly - Gyado; During the Commissioning of ACE - FUELS Laboratory by President/CE, Dangote Industries Limited / Guest Lecturer, before Lecture on Enterprise, Leadership and service to Humanity, at the 37th Public Lecture of Federal University Technology (FUTO) in Owerri Imo state on Saturday 25th April 2026
Dangote was at the institution to deliver a public lecture on Enterprise, Leadership and Service to Humanity. The hostel when completed will help to alleviate the shortages of accommodation for students of FUTO.
He started that importing finished products into Nigeria is importing is equivalent to importing poverty, inflation and unemployment while export of raw materials. Importation of finished products creates jobs, prosperity and development in the exporting countries, he added.
According to him, the decision to embrace manufacturing is to create jobs and add values to the raw materials that were usually exported. He said a major key in industrialization is looking inwards, that investors in the industrial sector should come from the citizens. He added that he refuses to invest in Nigeria and Africa, no foreign investor will be willing to stake his funds here.
Drawing examples from the Asia, he said, ‘Asian economies 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.’
Turning to the students, he said Nigerian youths are endowed with innovative spirit and could hold their own anywhere around the globe. He stated that many fresh graduates of engineering who were recruited and trained by Dangote Refinery and Fertiliser have been poached by companies in the Gulf region who treat them as expatriates.
He said, “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. In my own journey through business and industry, entrepreneurship has shown itself to be one of the most powerful tools for transforming challenges into opportunities. When young people are equipped with technical skills, mentorship, and access to capital, they do not just seek jobs – they create them. They build enterprises that diversify our economy beyond oil, strengthen local industries, and fuel sustainable development.”
He challenged the students to be innovative and creative, ready to learn and adapt as to be able to add value to the society. Drawing examples from China, he told the students that China has the highest number of people in the engineering field, which has made the country the leading centre of manufacturing and industrial development.
