If she didn’t buy the Dangote cement bag herself to find the winning scratch card, she definitely would not believe that the Dangote Cement Bag of Goodies promo is real. Even after the confirmation by the company that she has won the star prize, she is yet to come to terms with the reality of being a proud owner of a brand new saloon car which in the general parlance is referred to as “tear rubber”.
For Godwin Chimezie Success, a fresh graduate of English/Education from the Federal University, Gombe, Wednesday, July 17, 2019 will remain a day never to be forgotten. It was the day her life was turned around from that of an applicant to an exotic car owner, even to her own amazement, courtesy of Dangote Cement plc.
Chimezie Success, who just emerged the star winner of Dangote Cement ‘Bag of Goodies’ National Consumer Promotion in the South West Zone, was publicly presented with her winning prize, a brand new GAC saloon car, at the Mingles Event Centre, Jericho, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, in the presence of major distributors and retailers as well as some officials of Oyo state government.
Chimezie’s winning is coming on the heels of a similar winning a week earlier in Abraka, Delta State, by a cement retailer, Benjamin Igherighe, who became the first consumer of Dangote Cement to win one of the 43 cars on offer.
The star prize, according to Joseph Makoju, Group Managing Director of Dangote Cement, was just one out of the seven luxury cars earmarked for consumers in the South West region in the ongoing national promo. Makoju revealed that a total of 43 cars have been lined up for grabs nationally by lucky winners across the various geopolitical regions of Nigeria as the national promo continues until the end of the third quarter of the year. Other prizes include 24 tricycles, 24 motorcycles, 550 refrigerators, 400 television sets as well as a total of N200 million cash.
Visibly emotional Chimezie Success, who was accompanied to the presentation ceremony by her husband, was short of words as the whole episode just seemed like a dream to her.
However, by the time she managed to express her gratitude to Dangote Group for ‘this valued gift’ which she pledged to use for the purpose which it is meant ‘for the glory of God’, she was highly excited and could no longer keep the joy to herself.
“I will first of all say a very big thank you to Dangote Cemnet Company. I did not take the promo very seriously initially as I thought it was a joke, not knowing that it is a reality. Dangote should endeavour to continue with this type of empowerment initiatives which, I believe, will go a long way in changing the fortunes of many Nigerians like me positively,” she said.
Pressed to speak further, Chimezie Success explained that she bought 15 bags of Dangote Cement somewhere in Ibadan out of which she had discovered the winning scratch card from one of the bags.
The young housewife and her husband had resolved to use the cement for the purpose of moulding some blocks to construct a demarcating fence as security round a plot of land they just acquired somewhere in Ejioku village in Ibadan, not knowing that the winning scratch card was divinely tucked inside one of the bags to transform the life of the family.
Chimezie Success has a message for members of the public. She enjoined the populace to continue to take Dangote Cement by their words in all its ramifications.
“They said it and we found it to be so, this is quite surprising, a car in a bag of Dangote cement, quite unbelievable,” she said.
Oyo State Deputy Governor, Rauf Olaniyan, who spoke through Laide Raji at the event commended Dangote Group for the noticeable connection between the company and the consumers submitting that Dangote Cement is fast becoming a global brand of first choice.
The Deputy Governor congratulated the star winner in the same vein while urging her to be a good ambassador for Dangote.
Makoju, the Group Managing Director, had earlier in his address paid glowing tributes to the supportive organisations notably the Nigerian Society of Engineers and the network of distributors across the country who he described as the foot soldiers and very important elements in the production chain.
While maintaining that the conglomerate churned out 8 million bags of Dangote Cement on daily basis, Makoju remarked that it can only continue to keep its leading position in the market by upholding consumers’ loyalty through good service, sustained quality and affordability.
Makoju said the company decided to run the biggest promo ever in the country as a way of contributing to the economic wellbeing of the consumers of its products given the prevailing economic situation. He said the promo is to reward valued consumers for their unflinching partnership in ensuring that our range of cement products remains today the first choice for construction purposes across the country and added that the consumer promotion gives opportunities for existing and new consumers to get a step ahead of their struggle for economic emancipation by winning any of the give-away items which has economic value.
“We have made it so transparent that you don’t have to go through any raffle draw or the so called lucky dip associated with many other promotions in the country. For Dangote cement, you win instantly because what is revealed in the scratch card is what you win,” he stated.
Explaining why the company launched such a promo, Makoju explained that Dangote Cement is the largest in Africa with the largest production capacity and therefore decided to reward the consumer in the biggest way ever experienced in the country.
“Here in Dangote Cement, we adhere strictly to best global standards in producing our range of cement which makes them the best in the market. Our products – BlocMaster, 42.5R, 42.5N and Falcon – are all top-of-the-range brands developed to ensure that cement users have a choice on the type of product suitable for their projects. Much research and tests went into the development and production of these products as we are determined to offer consumers the best quality and experience either in building personal houses or in commercial construction works,” he said.
Funmi Sanni, Dangote Cement’s marketing director, was obviously at home with the cement distributors and retailers who graced the occasion.
She told the elated customers that Dangote Cement decided to roll out the billions of naira to empower the consumers because the production process is incomplete without consumers of the company’s products and the company would not remain in business without the consumers.
“To grow our business, we must constantly create value in terms of quality product and service, competitive pricing and depositing in consumers’ emotional bank accounts in order to become their preferred choice of brand at the point of purchase,” she said.
Sanni said as a business, the management of Dangote Cement recognises the importance of every member of its value chain – distributors, wholesalers, and retailers.
“As such, we have invested in growing their businesses through various empowerment schemes,” she said.
According to her, every promo bag of cement contains a scratch card carrying winning items carefully inserted in each promo bag. Consumers need to be educated to scratch gently so as not to invalidate their wining card. She disclosed that the promo cuts across all Dangote Cement’s brands which include 3X, Falcon and Blocmaster.
Sanni explained that the consumer promo was in line with the mission of the company which is to touch the lives of the people by providing their basic needs, pointing out that the consumer promotion is another huge investment to help the customers improve their rate of sales and make more profit while at the same time improving the consumers’ quality of life.
SEGUN ADAMS
