Dangote Cement Plc has taken its Social Investment drive to the football pitch, kicking-off its maiden tournament simultaneously at the Ibese and Okpella Plants to advance youth development, peaceful coexistence and stronger community ties.
The tournament, fully sponsored by Dangote Cement, brings together young people from communities around the company’s cement operations in Ibese, Okpella, Obajana, and Gboko providing them with an opportunity to showcase their football talents while strengthening relationships across community boundaries.
During the ceremonial kick-off of the Ibese edition, Plant Director, Ayyagari Subbaraidu described the tournament as another demonstration of Dangote Cement’s commitment to the socio-economic development and wellbeing of its host communities.
He said the initiative represented a new dimension in the company’s social investment strategy, complementing interventions in its four key Corporate Social Investment thematic areas of Education, Health, Infrastructure and Empowerment.
According to him, the company recognizes the strategic importance of young people within its host communities and the need to provide constructive avenues for their development and engagement. “This football tournament is a new dimension of our social investment strategy, specifically designed to promote youth development, engagement and empowerment,” Subbaraidu said.
“We recognize that young people constitute a significant proportion of the population in our host communities, and we consider it imperative to create meaningful opportunities for their engagement and development.”
The Plant Director explained that the competition was designed to go beyond the excitement of football by creating an inclusive platform through which young people could develop their talents, build relationships and channel their energies towards productive activities.
He added that Dangote Cement was also deploying sports as a proactive instrument for strengthening peaceful coexistence and deepening the company’s relationship with its host communities pointing out that “Beyond football, the tournament is a proactive social investment initiative aimed at promoting peace, strengthening inter-community relationships, fostering unity and deepening trust between Dangote Cement and the host communities,” he stated.
“While the teams may compete for the trophy, the bigger victory lies in the unity, friendship and mutual understanding we hope to establish and build. In the spirit of this, every community is considered a winner in this tournament,” he said.
At Ibese, 17 host communities have come together to form eight teams for the competition, an arrangement Subbaraidu said demonstrated the ability of sports to break down barriers and bring people together across community lines. He said the management is of the view that the tournament could provide opportunities for the identification of promising grassroots footballers who could emerge from the participating host communities and ultimately develop into players capable of competing at national and international levels.
“We believe that great talents can emerge from our communities and that this tournament will provide a platform for discovering and nurturing promising football talents who may eventually go on to shine on national and international stages,” he said.
He urged participating players and officials to embrace sportsmanship, discipline, fairness and mutual respect throughout the competition, warning against violence, confrontation and conduct capable of undermining the objectives of the tournament.
Supporters and spectators were similarly encouraged to conduct themselves responsibly and help create a peaceful and enjoyable atmosphere. “Let competition remain healthy and friendly. Avoid unnecessary confrontations, violence and actions that could result in injuries. I urge players, officials, supporters and spectators to conduct themselves responsibly and contribute to a peaceful and enjoyable tournament,” Subbaraidu said.
The Unity Football Tournament also kicked off at Dangote Cement’s Okpella operation as part of the broader community-focused initiative, with the company seeking to leverage the universal appeal of football to promote stronger relationships with its host communities.
Okpella Plant Director, Mohammed Ismaael said Football has a unique capacity to bring people together irrespective of community, background or social status. Through this tournament, Dangote Cement is creating a platform for our young people to interact positively, demonstrate their talents and build friendships that transcend community boundaries. For us at Okpella, this is not simply a football competition; it is an investment in our youth, peaceful coexistence and the long-term partnership we cherish with our host communities.”
The Okpella tournament reinforces the company’s broader objective of using grassroots sporting activities to complement its established community development programmes and create greater opportunities for young people to participate meaningfully in community life.
The competitions held simultaneously in Ibese and Okpella represent an expansion of Dangote Cement’s host community engagement approach beyond traditional interventions in education, healthcare, infrastructure and economic empowerment, adding sport as a vehicle for youth inclusion, talent discovery, peacebuilding and social cohesion.
