Owerri, Imo State, NIGERIA — Africa’s foremost industrialist and President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has pledged to construct a state-of-the-art student hostel valued at ₦550 million at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO).
The announcement was made over the weekend during his visit to the institution to deliver a public lecture titled “Enterprise, Leadership and Service to Humanity.”
In addition to the infrastructure pledge, Dangote announced a direct donation of ₦25 million to the institution’s Student Union Government (SUG) to support student welfare.
Okay News reports that the proposed hostel is expected to significantly ease the acute accommodation shortages currently facing the university community.
The Call for Inward Investment
During his lecture, Dangote shared insights from his business journey, emphasizing the importance of “backward integration”—the process of producing goods locally rather than relying on imports. He warned that importing finished products is equivalent to “importing poverty, inflation, and unemployment.” He challenged Nigerian investors to look inward, citing Asian economies as examples of development powered by domestic rather than foreign investment.
Turning his attention to the students, the industrialist praised the innovative spirit of Nigerian youth, noting that many engineers trained at the Dangote Refinery are now highly sought after globally. He urged the next generation to move beyond job seeking to job creation. “When young people are equipped with technical skills and mentorship, they build enterprises that diversify our economy beyond oil,” he stated.
