By Abubakar Rabilu Gombe
Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, has urged HBM Nigeria PLC, the new owners of Ashaka Cement, to match its planned expansion with increased commitment to host communities and environmental protection.
The governor made the call when he received the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of HBM Nigeria PLC, Mr Lolu Alade-Akinyemi, who led the company’s executive management team, including the Managing Director of Ashaka Cement Ltd, Ibrahim Aminu, on a courtesy visit to the Government House, Gombe.
Inuwa said the planned expansion of the company’s production capacity should create more employment opportunities, strengthen local content and expand community development and corporate social responsibility programmes.
He assured HBM Nigeria PLC of the state government’s continued support and partnership towards creating an enabling environment for sustainable industrial growth.
The governor said while profit maximisation remained a legitimate business objective, companies must also fulfil their responsibilities to the communities and environment where they operate.
He urged HBM to explore ways of improving roads leading to its facility, noting that some roads constructed by the state government had been damaged by heavy trucks and haulage activities associated with the company.
Inuwa also commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for awarding the contract for the Gombe-Biu Super Highway, describing it as a major project that would benefit the state and the wider region.
He challenged HBM to position itself to supply cement for the project, which is expected to utilise concrete pavement.
Earlier, Alade-Akinyemi said the transition from Lafarge Africa PLC to HBM Nigeria PLC followed the integration of Lafarge into Huaxin Building Materials Group.
He assured the governor that the company’s commitment to Gombe remained “steadfast and ironclad.”
He said HBM would prioritise local content, strategic partnerships, community development and corporate social responsibility.
The GMD disclosed that the company planned to increase its production capacity to two million metric tonnes annually, saying the expansion would generate jobs and stimulate economic activities within its value chain.
He commended Governor Inuwa for creating an enabling environment for industrial development and pledged to strengthen HBM’s partnership with the state government.
