As part of measures to curb road traffic crashes (RTC), the Dangote Cement Plc has launched a drivers’ training centre at the Dangote Cement Plant (DCP) at Obajana, Kogi State.
The new centre is charged with the responsibility of attending to all training needs of the Dangote Cement Plc drivers.
Meanwhile, the new centre at the weekend convoked its first graduates of 50 trainee drivers.
Speaking to journalists on the sideline at the convocation at Obajana, Head of the Dangote Drivers Training Centre, Mr. Harisson Pepple, said the training was in line with the company’s zero tolerance policy for auto crashes.
Pepple said the trainee drivers were drawn from the existing Motor Boys, and that the training period is six months.
He expressed optimism that the “days of crashes involving Dangote trucks are numbered.
“The trainee drivers’ programme is all encompassing. The first 12-week period is theoretical. Then there is three months attachment,” he said.
Pepple said the idea for the new Drivers’ Training Centre was conceived in June 2020 with the aim of training, retraining and constantly engaging the Dangote drivers.
He also announced that the company was engaging another set of qualified drivers with Class G licences, stressing that the company is doing everything possible to rid itself of road crashes.
According to him, the company is collaborating with the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in most of its activities, adding that the trainee drivers were also taught defensive driving techniques which involve driving to save lives, time and property.
Pepple said it should be recalled that Dangote Group has been taking stringent measures to minimise auto crashes, and that the new training centre is a continuation of its innovative efforts.
Some of the efforts by the Dangote Cement Plc to curb crashes, according to a statement, included the recertification of drivers, pre-trip and post-trip inspections, drug test, onboard camera and tracking of vehicles, root cause analysis, engaging behavioral psychologists and clerics, convoy movement, checkpoint policy and sanctions among several others.