LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – Dangote Cement Industry, located in Obajana, Kogi State, has been a subject of controversy as the State government and Aliko Dangote, have been at loggerheads over the ownership of the plant.
On Friday, Kogi State government directed the Dangote Group to ensure its cement factory at Obajana is shut down within the next 48 hours in honour of the State House of Assembly which ordered the company to sealed until the conglomerate furnishes it with the requisite documents demanded by the legislature, putting at risk thousands of jobs in the process.
Unfortunately, thousands of indigenous Kogi whose means of livelihood are dependent on the company will be affected. And from all indications, the state government doesn’t seems to reckon with that implication.
The state government acting under the pretext of enforcing the resolution of the state house of assembly gave the directive on Friday.
The action of the state government since the dispute between it and Dangote Industries started has baffled many in the business community who have frowned at its resort to self-help and muscling tactic.
Coming from a state with very little private sector has bemused many watchers of the developments from Kogi, who are inferring that this may be an apparent shakedown of the Dangote Group.
Daily Trust correspondent who visited the town reported that many residents were beginning to fear the loss of their means of livelihood if the dispute dragged on and the company remained closed.
Thugs, allegedly acting on the orders of the state government, had invaded the premises of the company on 5 October, shooting sporadically and forced the closure of the company.
The government had accused the owners of the company of failure to pay appropriate tax and reneging on an agreement to cede 10 per cent of the shares of the company to it.
The management of the company, in response, denied all the charges against it, saying that it had followed due process in acquiring the company and had paid all that was due to the government.
The beehive of activities associated with the cement town was dull, as a result of the row over alleged tax evasion and an ownership crisis that has affected activities at the factory.
It was gathered that many residents of the town were seen wearing gloomy faces and discussing the situation in groups.
The sound of motorists and the blaring horns of articulated vehicles, which were part of the sounds associated with bubbling industrial community before, is now absent from the town.
Similarly, the long queue of parked trailers that was the pride of the town has all but disappeared, as only smaller vehicles were seen.
The parking spaces, which used to be the centre of activities as trucks discharge or load products, are all empty, making the cement town look as if it were in the shroud of a ghost town.
Speaking to Daily Trust correspondent, the market leader at a make-shift market along Lokoja-Kabba road said things have taken a turn for the worse for many traders.
“We started coming here to display our wares gradually since Friday. Unfortunately, most of our customers have left the town due to the unfortunate incident,” she said.
The owner of one of the restaurants operating around the gate of the company, Madam Josephine Igeh, said the rate of patronage has dropped drastically since the ugly incident in the town.
She said she hardly makes N5,000 these days, as against N30,000 to N50,000 she was making each day before the crisis.
She added that even those who used to supply them with foodstuffs have stopped coming to the town, leading to a hike in prices. She said prices of food items such as yams, rice and vegetables have hit the roof.
Equally, secondhand goods dealers, popularly called okrika, are lamenting a drastic drop in patronage.
“For days now, I have lost many of my customers. Many have relocated since the incident. I did not sell anything on Friday and Saturday.
“I just sold one item around 11am today. I hope things will change soon as many that ran away are now getting back to the town,” one of the traders who declined to mention his name said.
Also, motorists plying the areas, including commercial motorcycle operators and Okada riders, in the town, are lamenting the drop in business since the face-off between the government and the company began.
“We were just burning fuel around the streets; no customers. Hardly do we take N1, 000 home these days,” said a commercial motorcycle rider, Jimoh.
According to Fatai Idowu, a shop owner at the Obajana market, the crisis has paralysed commercial activities and transportation in the Obajana community.
“It is therefore unfortunate that protesters will be hired on this issue,” he said.
A worker who sought anonymity said: “The crisis started around 11am on Wednesday. The youths invaded the gate of the company and forced themselves into the factory, preventing those on afternoon and night duty from resuming at their shifts that day. But the production resumed the following morning – on Thursday.”
Meanwhile, some truck drivers of the company have raised the alarm over the fate of some of their colleagues who were declared missing during the crisis, along with their vehicles.
They alleged that some of the company’s drivers were flagged down at the period of the crisis while on transit and forced to divert their trucks to the bush, where their cargo was off-loaded by irate youth in many areas in the state.
The Bajana of Obajana, HRH Oba Idowu Isenibi, the host monarch, was said to be away, but some of his subjects said the situation is under control.
They said the town has got the ugly incident behind it, hoping for early and amicable settlement of the crisis for activities to pick up again.
The Chairman of the Okun Area Traditional Council and the Obaro of Kabba, Solomon Dele Owoniyi, has commended the cement company for undertaking many projects in the area.
He said the 43km concrete road constructed by the company has elevated the status of his people.
“Without this road, Okun people would have been completely shut out of the state capital, Lokoja. We are most grateful,” he said recently during the signing of new CDS at Obajana.
Also, an influential member of the community who wanted to be referred to as, Taiwo Babalola said: “Dangote is our son. We would protect his huge investment and gigantic concrete road. I am happy that this is happening in my lifetime and in my kingdom.”
As the state government has vowed to take the matter to court, it looks like the people of Obajana may have to wait a bit longer before activities at the ancient town to resume.
