By Prosper Olayiwola
The Dangote Group is set to launch a fresh recruitment drive for engineers to fill vacant positions at its multi-billion-dollar refinery after several of its trained engineers were redeployed to other subsidiaries, including sugar and cement operations. According to internal sources, the move is considered a major setback as many of the affected engineers had undergone specialized overseas training and were integral to the refinery’s commissioning phase. 
The workers will move to sugar, cement, and other business units. The company invested heavily in their training, and many of them were part of the commissioning phase. Losing that experience hurts, but protecting the refinery comes first,” an official told reporters. It was further disclosed that some of the redeployed staff may also be relocated to Dangote’s operations outside Nigeria, as part of efforts to retain their expertise within the group.
Meanwhile, several of the affected engineers have already received offers from international companies, with their specialized skills attracting attention across the global energy industry. Concerns have been raised over salary disparities between Nigerian engineers and their expatriate counterparts. However, a consultant familiar with the project explained that such differences are typical in the early stages of large-scale industrial operations. “Every new industrial operation brings in global experts before fully transitioning to local staff. Refinery operations differ from upstream oil exploration, so salary structures cannot be compared,” the consultant said.
Sources confirmed that the redeployment process is ongoing and is being handled individually. Once completed, a number of engineers will take up new roles both within Nigeria and across Dangote’s international operations. The recruitment of new engineers is expected to begin once the reshuffling exercise is finalized.
