Cement, Where A Monopoly Cabal Enslaves The Nation And Govt Turns A Blind Eye
By
Moses Oludele Idowu
The usual narrative of economic success and prosperity by government and its numerous media aides, mediocre scholars and apologists follow a repetitive pattern: Increased revenue and monthly FAAC allocations, GDP growth, foreign reserves liquidity, investor confidence, and all those claptrap of IMF/World Bank school of Third World economic dispossession. They are often excited about statistical growths, economic progress that is visible only on paper, promise of “a trillion-dollar economy” and a “shared prosperity” that is always locked in the future while in reality millions daily fall into penury, grinding poverty and despair.
And many more millions will fall in the days ahead because our rulers do not really understand how Economics work. Of what use is “a trillion- dollar economy,” building of 4 seaports and airports etc., in a nation where 95% of the population has less than N500,000 in their account, according to government’s own Bureau of Statistics? Who will the trillion-dollar economy help when tens of millions are already condemned and excluded from participation due to lack?
Nigerians and their government are on different wavelengths economically. It is the reason why successive governments have left Nigeria and Nigerians worse than they met them. I am beginning to think that Nigerian leaders are ignorant. As far as running an economy goes, they are not only ignorant, they are also dull. They live in a different universe totally aloof, completely detached and ignorant of the conditions of the people they lead and the negative and disastrously catastrophic impact of their daily decisions upon their hapless people. Instead they live in the utopian heights of convoluted bubble spewing plenty of gibberish about “reforms” and “giant strides” that only make the people poorer day by day. They swallow every proposition from the foreign agents of Global Corporatocracy and International Capitalist Conspiracy because they don’t know better unlike Indians and Chinese who designed an appropriate system beneficial to their own people and their peculiarly large population. Deliberate interventions are ignored, specific policy thrusts and initiatives needed to act as checks and instruments against the sharks and protective remedies to preserve the people from these economic sharks and predators are wanting and missing. The people are left unprotected at the mercy of callous economic brutes by a government that is actually watching for the interests of the capitalists rather than the people. The relationship between government and private capital is even worse than incest; it is like a father holding his daughter down for his friend to rape. Tragic, but that is the best way to describe it.
There is no place in recent time where this is manifestly evident as in the on-going financial carnage and collective dispossession of masses of Nigerian people through a crucial building construction material, cement.
In January this year this product sold for N9,600 (nine thousand six hundred naira). By July it has jumped to N12, 400 (twelve thousand four hundred naira). I supervised a construction project in July and I am aware the price we bought the product. I am talking from actual experience. Just thirty days later in the last week of August/ first week of September on the same project we bought the same product for N14,000 (fourteen thousand naira). I understand in some places it goes for N14, 500 or even N15,000.
Thus in the space of only 7 to 8 months, within the same geographic space and without war and where a government is supposed to exist, a product of such versatility, universal value and necessity to building construction like cement, a product that is produced in Nigeria increased in price by as much as 45 – 48%. This is not, mind you, pre-war Hitler’s Germany, this is APC-ruled (or APC-misruled) Nigeria.
When I say that Nigeria does not have a government worth the name, some get upset and angry but the reality of the fact is that we don’t really have a government that is worth the name as per the Constitution. No buffers, no institutional framework for redress or legal protection, no governmental safeguards or oversight from predatory sharks, capitalist hegemons and devourers. The people are left at the mercy of shylocks, oligopoly and greedy profiteers. The government would rather protect them than protect the people against them.
That is what we have. That is not a government; that is a concave of political and financial bandits protecting vested financial and business interests, agents of neo- colonialist perpetuation, much like the plantation supervisors of Buckingham Palace in colonial days.
Every effort, every policy and every action is geared to make the people poor not rich. Who then are we building “the trillion- dollar economy” for? How many Nigerians today can travel by air if less than 5% of the population have more than N500,000? If a house is supposed to cost x – naira when cement costs nine thousand naira, how much will it cost when the cost of cement increases by 50%? If they were to borrow from banks how will they be able to pay back when the rate of increase of only one item of material has increased by more than 30% within just a month?
Do the people in power think about the people they rule or they just mouth some slogans given to them by Washington Consensus or Buckingham Palace as plantation supervisors?
There is not a single justifiable reason for this astronomical increase within months except for the sole fact that we have no government. No reason whatsoever. In South Africa cement sells for about N6, 500, Egypt (N4, 500), Kenya (N7000), Ghana (N7000). Nigeria has enough limestone in abundant quantity, so why would cement cost this much and rising when there is even enough production to go round?
There are also enough cement producing companies in Nigeria although three stand out: Dangote, BUA and Lafarge. These three companies control the largest market share totalling 95% of which Dangote controls 60%.
The total cement production per year is around 60-65 million metric tonnes per annum of which domestic consumption only takes 25-30 million metric tonnes. So there is enough and even more than enough cement, so why the astronomical increase if not price manipulation because Nigerians are helpless? The predator sharks in the cement industry know that nothing will happen to them and no one will come or ask questions.
Dangote with its plants at Obajana, Ibese, Gboko, Okpalla, Itori produces about 41 million metric tonnes of cement thus controlling about 60% of market share. The same monopolist controls sugar, and soon even petrol. So Google wasn’t too wrong when it says “Dangote is the owner of Nigeria.” He probably is, because all government and agents do his bidding even to the discomfort of the generality as you will see in the second part of this essay.
BUA produces 17-30 million metric tonnes from its plants at Obu (Edo State), Kalambana (Sokoto), Lafarge produces 10.5 million metric tonnes from its plants at Ewekoro, Shagamu, Ashaka and Mfamosing (Cross River State)
There are some other smaller holdings but these three are the largest.
The profiteering in cement industry is not a secret, it is hidden in plain sight. In 2025 just last year the combined sales is N6.53 trillion and a profit after tax of cement industries totals N1.65 trillion (One trillion, six hundred and fifty billion naira only). This represents an incredible increase of 142% from 2024. Let that sink in.
Dangote alone pays N753.8 billion to shareholders as earnings per share rose to N59.86 (See _Vanguard_ July 6, 2026 p.21). Just think of that figure. From the same pauperised people whose safety valves and subsidies have all but been removed in oil, energy, power, education.
It is collective dispossession. This is why Nigerians are now poorer today than at any time in their history and recollection. A true government devises means to put money in the hands of people because when they are financially empowered and have money they will spend and the economy will rebound. Unfortunately the World Bank/ IMF spin doctors advising our rulers fail to tell them that the implications of mass poverty and immiseration are dire as we saw in Latin America. A profit of 142 percentage points in a single year from an economy is unwholesome and unethical. It is robbery. This puts a lie to the cement company that they incur enormous costs in production and running costs. If they do then they shouldn’t be making that level of profit.
Some of the excuses they have given as reasons for the high cost of cement are actually untenable if not outright silly. Energy cost, depreciation, general inflation, labour costs, financing costs, infrastructure project, imports of additives etc.
Of all the reasons above only the last one has some merits, others are actually an insult to our intelligence.
What was the costs of labour, energy, diesel in January and what are they now? Have they been increased by 50%? Is general inflation in Nigeria 50% from January till now to have justified such humongous increments? Even the foreign exchange rate has been relatively stable within the period under review.
So why the increase?
The other germane reason is the infrastructure project, the Lagos – Calabar Coastal Road that is employing large scale usage of cement. Even then, a serious government would have envisaged this and the ruinous effects on the local consumption and made appropriate arrangements to safeguards local consumption without largely affecting prices. A capitalist has gotten a job without bidding in tune of N16 trillion and can pay any amount for cement. But Nigerians can’t pay any amount and must not suffer because they haven’t secured a no- bid contract as safety valves. What they have are bombardments from left and right as removal of subsidies on all aspects of everyday life.
The way it is going cement price will continue to gallop without any deliberate policy interventions. The cement industries are enjoying the party. Our government has left us without any protection and may not protect us because this is an election year. They must not offend those capitalists because they need their donations for campaigns. It is a mutually-rewarding venture: you rub my back and I rub yours. The cement monopolists know this and that is why they are reckless because they know this is the time they can do what they like without the people in government saying anything.
We are on our own.
What does this say about Nigeria? What does this say about the presence of government in Nigeria? That a product made and sold in Nigeria costs more in Nigeria than in Ghana or Benin Republic and Kenya?
You know the answer.
May God give us a Government worth the name.
Cement: The Game of Manipulation and the Conspiracy Against Nigerians
In the first part of this essay I have tried to explain where we are presently as far as the cost of cement is. In this next and last part of the essay I will now try to examine the root of this conspiracy against Nigerians and the incestuous role played by an agent of Government to what has befallen Nigerians. To be fair the problem did not begin with this government or with APC but it has worsened under its watch because nothing is done to arrest the situation.
By God’s Grace I am not only a scholar and writer, I am also a practicing civil/structural engineer and have been in practice since 1992 and registered with both COREN and NSE since 1995/96. I have been involved in design and supervision of various projects ranging from road and highway, water, high rise structures, civil facilities over a space of several years so I am fairly conversant with cement and developments in the industry.
There is a history that most people do not know and which they must know about cement. The problem we see today began around 12 years ago.
Up to January 2014 the price of cement was around N1, 600 (one thousand six hundred naira). You can verify this if you can lay your hands on the old newspapers of that time and their monthly review of building materials. Also, and this is very important, up to this same year the popular grade of cement used was the 32.5 grade which meets the requirements and which the engineer knows what to do to get the required grade of concrete he required. Higher grades of cement like the 42.5 grade or 52.5 grade can be engaged for special purposes or (for the 52.5 grade especially) for special construction projects like bridges where higher concrete strength is required. This was the situation since 1952 when cement production began in Nigeria. The 32.5 grade had been in use since 1952. I have been in practice since the early 1990’s and we used the same cement even for government projects without any hassles or collapse or structural failures.
Then something happened in 2014.
Follow the story and pay attention.
Sometimes in the early part of the year 2014 Dangote Cement announced that it has in collusion with Lafarge joined to produce the 42.5 grade cement. Curiously, few weeks later the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) an arm of government issued a “public notice” titled ”Cement Class and Application” in which the 32.5 grade of cement was now branded as fit only for plastering purposes and only 42.5 grade (that Dangote and Lafarge produce) is the only one fit for construction purposes.[ See _Guardian_ May 26, 2014, p.73] Without any scientific basis, validation or principles or theory an arm of Government issued a public notice rubbishing an entire construction history and a cement grade that has been used since 1952 without any issues evidently to serve the interests of one man.
Not long after the House of Representatives set up a Committee over the issue of grade of cement and also issued its recommendation affirming SON’s earlier Public Notice recommending only 42.5 grade of cement for construction purposes. The worst and the most unserious and jejune and fallacious insinuation was the invalid assertion contained in both SON and House of Representatives recommendations that the use of 32.5 grade cement was the reason for incessant building collapses without any statistics or studies. If that were true why then has incidents of building collapses not ceased since 2014? The use of cement grade has nothing to do with the cause of building collapses, nothing in actual times. [ For a thorough understanding of why buildings collapse see Moses Oludele Idowu, “Why Buildings Fail: Recent Trends in Building Collapse'” Lagos State Safety Commission’s _Vision Zero International Conference_, 2018 ]
Despite protests from learned professional bodies like Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA), Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), COREN, Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, Cement Manufacturing Association of Nigeria, Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) – who all testified before the House Committee pointing to the errors in such assertion the House of Representatives passed this dubious policy law based on false and spurious science of unknown methodology and dubious research lacking in scientific validity and grounded on perverse epistemology and hermeneutic inaccuracies. Thus the House of Representatives in collusion with SON passed this policy based on voodoo science and engineering that consigns more than 50 years of practical engineering experience into the dustbin of history. Just to placate one business man who controls the major share in the industry. An arm of government held the Nigerian cow for an oligopoly to milk. The real aim was to demarket and edge out the remaining 7 companies who were producing the 32.5 grade cement and to create a monopoly. This is the very thing a government was created to prevent – that is a real government worth the name. But it was a different era when “stealing was not corruption.”
As to be expected price began to skyrocket. Within weeks the price of cement that had been stable at N1,600 galloped to N2,400. But for the other companies who rose to the challenge the price could have hit the roof.
Thus, Nigerians became casualties in their own nation because their government decided to be loyal to a business interest than to the people who elected it, the very people for whose purpose government derives its legitimacy. It would have been funny if it were not so pathetic.
Today Dangote controls more than 60% of cement production (42.5 grade) in Nigeria. In a serious nation that would not be allowed as a form of protection for the people. It is now clear that what government did in 2014 was simply to benefit Dangote not because it was interested in stopping building collapse.
Today cement now sells for almost N15,000 while in neighbouring Benin Republic sells for around N10,000. This is what happens when one person controls the market. You are all casualties.
As it now presently stands most Nigerians will never own a home of their own as long as they live no matter how hard they work earning an honest living. It just won’t happen.
It has nothing to do with who is there at the corridors of power whether APC or PDP, as long as the ruinous economic structure and policy subsist, you are all losers.
If a Nigerian wants to import cement from Ghana today at N7,000 or Benin Republic the same government will disallow him. If it is a free economy then someone should also be free to import if it benefits him. But government will not allow that. The government protects the big business from you but it doesn’t protect you from the big business and from their arbitrary price increases. That is why I said you don’t have a government.
MOSES OLUDELE IDOWU CAN BE CONTACTED VIA WHATSAPP: 08034697670
