ALIKO DANGOTE SACKS 800 NIGERIAN GRADUATES IN HIS TRUCK ENTREPRENUERSHIP SCHEME THAT NEVER WAS.

THE DANGOTE TRUCK OFFICERS SCHEME THAT NEVER WAS

It was massively advertised as Dangote Truck Entrepreneurial Scheme in virtually all the non-media outlets both in the conventional and virtual media. It was designed in such a way that qualified graduates will be empowered to manage trucks assigned to them and eventually become owners after the trucks must have attained a defined mileage. So many young graduates excitedly keyed into the initiative with accolades being showered on the drafters of the scheme. It was described as a panacea to youth unemployment and was hailed by all from all quarters.

After the buzz and eulogies from the government and the public had died down, the goal post was shifted by Dangote Group. The recruited graduates were told that it's no longer and entrepreneurial scheme. They were cajoled to believe that they have been offered provisional offer of employment in one of the most 'respected brand' in the country, Dangote Cement Transport. With confirmation promised after 6months. The employment letter looked so vague and empty. It was bereft of the usual details that accompanies any offer of employment letter. Out of mixed feelings, some graduates accepted the offer and some rejected it. Most accepted it because they saw it as an avenue to work in a brand that has house hold name with great potentials. They were termed as Truck Officers with the mandate of overseeing trucks assigned to them and superintending over the truck drivers. Sadly, their hopes and dream in identifying with this brand has been dashed and short lived.

The events that have played out thus far in 8 months seems like a calculated and well orchestrated deceit with a timeline. The drafters of the scheme played it out methodologically with a defined template.

For the past 8months that Truck Officers have worked at Dangote Cement Transport, Dangote has only paid each Truck Officer roughly about 436,000 naira in total as monthly salary. What a paltry sum to be paid to a working graduate for 8months. This total sum is about what some relatively unknown companies without the clout of Dangote Group pay employees in 1 or 2 months with lesser work load compared to what obtains at Dangote Cement Transport.

This is the height of corporate fraud and enslavement. No medical benefit paid, no overtime allowance paid, no special duty allowance paid, no leave grant paid, no defined bonus paid, no form of welfare package paid, no confirmation letter as promised. Truck Officers were left at the mercy of just a misery 58,000 naira stipend paid monthly. Yet, they looked beyond the monthly take home to discharge their duties to the best of their abilities without any inhibitions.

A truck loads about 45 tonnes of cement worth over 2million naira per trip and a Truck Officer is expected to monitor the loading, dispatch and delivery of the consignment to its final destination and it's return to base with the assistance of the Truck Driver. In spite of this round the chain effort, no Truck Officer has made close to half of that amount from the company for the tireless efforts put in daily both weekends and public holiday to maintain the trucks for this past 8 months. This is regardless of the hazardous and unpleasant working condition Truck Officers are daily exposed to with nearly non existing working tools.

Within the 8months period under review, Truck Officers were responsible for the resuscitation of over 100 moribund and non operational trucks which are up and running today. So many Dangote trucks involved in accidents or broken down on the high way and littered across different parts of the country thereby causing nuisance on the road were brought back to Obajana through the major efforts of Truck Officers. This feats were mainly achieved under very strenuous conditions and risk with no special incentive paid.

The appreciation a Truck Officer gets in return for dedicatedly serving the Dangote brand for 8 months is a letter of disengagement.

This is indeed a capitalist world with heartless and conscienceless management at the helms of affairs. The management style has been so porous with no clear cut policy direction. Truck Officers are daily bequeathed with flip flop policies. Yet, they improvised and applied ingenuity in getting the job done. More so, the threat of dismissal and query even with verbal insults from management at times became a recurring trend in the course of the work. Amidst all these unfavourable challenges, Truck Officers still made huge impact in the discharge of their duties.