Afrigather BUA Industries has lastly responded to a number of allegations levelled in opposition to its administration in 7 Web page-Editorial by Aliko Dangote.
In an announcement signed by its administration despatched to MOUTHPIECE NGR, BUA detailed a number of acts of Sabotage by Dangote on their companies and Operations across the nation…..CONTINUE READING
It reads: “BUA RESPONDS TO DANGOTE
“t’s with a profound sense of duty and a heavy coronary heart that we deal with the claims and really low cost makes an attempt at blackmail levelled in opposition to BUA by Aliko Dangote in a latest I 7-page editorial following months of sponsored campaigns of calumny in opposition to us utilizing third -party platforms. To place issues in perspective, it’s crucial to revisit history-a historical past
not of rivalry however of resulience: not of enmity. however of endurance.
“In August 1991, a younger BUA was doing its commodities buying and selling enterprise simply as Nigeria confronted a shortage of sugar. As sugar was scarce, BUA was fortunate to be one of many few with any inventory on the market, and we stood ready to produce the nation’s wants as greatest as our inventory may. It was throughout this era Aliko Dangote approached us to buy sugar. If solely we knew he was setting the primary of many traps in our enterprise historical past. He gave us a Societe Generale Financial institution of Nigeria Cheque, which bounced upon presentation to the financial institution. Unknown to us this was a ruse that may result in a court-sanctioned freeze of our property orchestrated by Dangote. For 3 agonising months, our accounts had been garnisheed warehouses shuttered, and our spirit examined. But, from the ashes of deceit, BUA survived.
(see connected courtroom order)
Quick ahead a number of years later, we determined that since we had been making good progress in our numerous companies, we should always open a sugar refinery. We approached one Usman Dantata (now late), Aliko Dangote’s uncle, and leased his NPA waterfront land (4.5 hectares) on the Tincan Island port, ‘Polo Home’.
We took the land, signed an settlement with the consent of PA, and paid all relevant dues. Dangote waited till our contractors and gear had
been mobilised to the location, then he went to former Presicient Obasanio. President Obasanio
had the land revoked solely and gave the lease to Dangote. In consequence, even his uncle misplaced
the land. BUA was solely given 24 hours to vacate the land.
It took us over a 12 months to get one other land. How?
Our survival as a enterprise particularly our Lagos sugar refinery is a legacy handed to us by a
loving father who, seeing his son’s misery, did what solely the noblest and kindest of hearts may do. With unwavering religion, our chairman’s late father-may his soul relaxation in everlasting peace— handed him the land on which our Lagos Sugar Refinery stands at present. This land was the situation of certainly one of his thriving companies with a warehouse, which he shut down and handed to us with out asking for compensation. He simply noticed the ache of our chairman, Abdul Samad Rabiu, referred to as him someday and handed him the papers to the land. His gesture was a beacon of hope in certainly one of our darkest hours. And so, BUA survived once more one other Dangote
entice. At present, we at the moment are the biggest Sugar refining concern in West Atrica.
Our companies continued to surge ahead amid a number of different makes an attempt, too many to say now. In 2007, beneath President YarAdua’s visionary mandate to broaden Nigeria’s cement business and break the monopoly within the sector, BUA was among the many six corporations chosen and granted licenses. Our strategy was unconventional however efficient: we
launched a floating terminal – ‘BUA CEMENT I which is a cement manufacturing facility constructed into a big ship, as a stopgap whereas we had been engaged on securing our land-based cement plant.
What adopted, nonetheless, was one other act meant to drive us out of enterprise. Our utility to dock the floating terminal in Lagos met with resistance. We then determined to berth the shin on the terminal we owned in Port Harcourt. Regardless of this, we confronted appreciable
pushback and it took the decisive intervention of late President Yar Adua who directed that the Minister of Transport and the chairman of PA honour our proper to contribute to the nation’s progress.
However the hurdles didn’t finish there. The drama intensified when Orwell Brown, a Deputy Comptroller Normal who was additionally an older brother to a Dangote Workers, launched a sudden strike, trying to deport our vessel’s whole expatriate crew. It was a Friday that’s ceaselessly
seared into our reminiscence— the shock of our expatriates rounded up, their confusion as they had been shepherded onto a Dangote-funded one-way native flight from Port Harcourt to Lagos en-route Asia by way of Emirates.
Upon heaning of what had occurred, we reached out to Tanimu Yakubu, the then Chief Financial Adviser, who acted with the urgency that the scenario demanded. His name to the CG of Immiaration was a lifeline, and our expatriate crew was introduced again from the emirates plane and never deported. The aftermath was swift motion of the President, who
ensured that such a misuse of energy wouldn’t go unchecked. DC Brown, caught in a tangle of undue affect, admitted what he did to the Minister, and he was later dismissed. By all these tribulations, BUA’s resolve has solely strengthened. These occasions narrate not simply the trials of an organization however the resolve of its individuals, sure collectively by a shared imaginative and prescient and an unwavering perception in justice and equity.
We additionally know what transpired while we had been constructing our Edo Cement Plant. Everybody is aware of the problems we confronted. The plant we’re working in Edo wouldn’t have been working and contributing immensely to the financial system, it not for the previous President Buhari who needed to intervene by calling Governor Obaseki that no employees should lose their jobs and the plant should not be shut down, it doesn’t matter what occurs. We can’t say extra because the matter is currenty sub-judice – and is on the Supreme Court docket. Throughout that point, Edwin Devakumar and Sunday Esan (two long-time and present employees of Dangote) had been caught in leaked emails, whose content material weren’t restricted to sending thugs to foment bother, shut our manufacturing facility in addition to
pushing unhealthy press in opposition to us (See emails connected)
Similar factor occurred once more with our Port Harcourt sugar refinery – the one sugar refinery in Nigeria that’s outdoors Lagos. Dangote utilized each means attainable to make sure the refinery didn’t take off and we raised the alarm. In some unspecified time in the future, the terminal was taken away from us and was to have been given to another person a the behest of Dangote. There needed to be a presidential intervention once more for NPA to do the best factor, but we survived.
“For over 32 years, now we have been forged because the antagonists in a story woven with malice. We
haven’t simply survived; now we have thrived, increasing our operations and contributing to Nigeria’s financial system with out resorting to subterfuge. To Mr. Dangote and the Dangote Group, we are saying: Allow us to construct, not belittle. Allow us to domesticate, not conquer. Whereas we might share {the marketplace}, we want not share malice. We’ve got nothing to do together with your self-inflicted points. Blame nobody however your self.
“In closing, we at BUA stay dedicated to our ethos of innovation, integrity, and inclusiveness. Our historical past will not be certainly one of being handed something on a silver platter. We’ll proceed to serve our beloved nation and its individuals with the diligence and honour they
deserve. Our previous, current, and future actions are rooted within the prosperity of Nigeria undeterred by the winds of unfounded criticism. We stay centered on constructing and creating Nigeria…..CONTINUE READING
Signed:
Manacement
