Assessment of Maintenance Management Practices in the Dangote Cement Production Plant, Obajana, Kogi State

Effective maintenance management is a critical determinant of plant availability, production throughput, and operational cost efficiency in large-scale cement manufacturing facilities. This study assesses the maintenance management framework applied at the Dangote Cement production plant in Obajana, Kogi State, one of the largest cement facilities in sub-Saharan Africa. The research adopts a descriptive survey approach, combining structured questionnaire administration to 85 maintenance and operations personnel with direct observation of maintenance procedures and documentary review of maintenance records spanning a three-year period. Key performance indicators including equipment availability, mean time between failures, mean time to repair, and preventive-to-corrective maintenance ratio were computed from plant records and compared against industry benchmarks. Findings indicate that overall plant availability averaged 87 percent over the study period, slightly below the industry standard target of 90 percent, with kiln drive train components accounting for the greatest share of unplanned downtime. The preventive-to-corrective maintenance ratio was 58 to 42, below the recommended 70 to 30 split for continuous process industries. Skills gap analysis revealed significant deficiencies in condition monitoring and predictive maintenance competencies among frontline technicians. The study recommends the implementation of a reliability-centred maintenance programme, investment in vibration analysis and oil analysis equipment, and a structured technical training calendar for maintenance staff. Keywords: maintenance management, cement plant, plant availability, preventive maintenance, Obajana.