- Safiu Kehinde
The management of Dangote Cement Plc has expressed the company’s commitment to safety, stressing that its driver undergo intensive training and retraining on effective driving test nationwide.
Arvind Pathak, the Dangote Group Managing Director of the company made this known in a statement issued on Friday in Lagos.
This is coming under the heels of the recent surge in ghastly road accidents involving Dangote cement trucks and commuters.
NPO Reported the death of three commuters in a multiple crash involving Dangote truck in Auchi, Edo state.
The incident occurred barely a week after the sister of Big Brother Naija star, Josephine Otabor, was crushed by a Dangote cement truck driver, leaving one of her legs amputated.
This had sparked outrage and demonstration in Edo with residents calling for accountability annd compensation of victims by the company.
Speaking at the 2025 Annual Driver’s Retreat with the theme, ”Drive Safely, Arrive Safely”, held at the company’s plant at Ibese, Lagos, where over 200 drivers were trained, Pathak explained that every driver employed by Dangote Cement was required to undergo an extensive and rigorously structured recruitment process.
He listed them to include valid driver’s licence class G, background verification of both the driver and their guarantors, comprehensive medical evaluation, including vision screening (eye test).
Others, he listed as blood pressure checks, BMI -body mass index, RBS – random blood sugar test as well as drug and alcohol testing.
“Other recruitment screening covers usage within a three-month detection window, ensuring identifying any history of substance use before employment.
“Completion of a two-week intensive training programme, which consists of twelve safety modules, practical driving assessments, and written examinations”, he said.
Pathak noted that in the past two months alone, over 500 prospective drivers had successfully completed this process, stating that only those who met all required standards were engaged and certified to operate any Dangote Group vehicles.
“Our commitment to safety extends beyond recruitment. All drivers undergo mandatory pre-trip medical assessments, conducted by licenced nurses and doctors.
“These include regular checks on blood pressure, vision, and overall fitness, ensuring drivers are physically and mentally fit to operate safely.
“To enforce compliance with our zero-tolerance policy on substance use, random drug tests are conducted routinely across our operations,” he said.
The Group Managing Director maintained that the organisation enforced strict safety and behavioural standards and would apply punitive measures to curb errant driving.
He pledged that the company will continue to collaborate with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and other regulatory agencies to ensure that all training, compliance, and operational processes were up to standard.
Pathak added that these authorities were also actively involved in monitoring and evaluation of their safety practices.
He reaffirmed the company’s commitment to road safety, transparency, appropriate ethical conduct, and provision of detailed clarity on the comprehensive systems and procedures to mitigate against any incident along roads across the country.
“Dangote is a responsible organisation that consistently cooperates with the Nigeria Police and other relevant authorities in the investigation of reported incidents with support of all lawful processes.
“This is aimed at establishing the facts and routinely implement recommendations that strengthen public safety.” He said.
The Group Chief, Health Safety Social and Environment Officer, Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Mr James Adenuga, while addressing the drivers noted that the training was to remind the drivers on safety guides.
Adenuga noted that the regular training was to educate them in the language they understood and teach them how the training mattered to them.
Taking the drivers through some requirement for safe driving a road safety expert, Mr Oje Ebhota explained that the choice of the topic for his paper centered on safety driving habits for accident-free journey.
He advised the drivers to be conscious of dangerous overtaking and drive within the driving limit of 60km per hour so that they did not veer off the road and cause accident that could affect negatively other road users.