Dangote Refinery: A Plea For Caution
*by Oba Adekunle Oyelude CON

I am very proud, as I always do home and abroad, to call myself a citizen of Nigeria, the blessed land of my forebears. From the bottom of my heart, I pledge to continue to be proud of Nigeria, come rain, come shine because there is no other place on this planet earth to be called my natural home other than here.

I am also happy to say that my antecedent before and after I ascended to the throne of my ancestors as the 13th Olowu of Kuta in September 2012, has not contrasted my love for and belief in Nigeria, both of which were recognised by the Federal Government of Nigeria in May 2023 when the then President Muhammadu Buhari confered on me the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).

In view of this national honour and my status as a royal father, I find it much more obligatory to share my view on the ongoing travail of the Dangote Refinery, a major private investment which sits on 2,635 hectares with a view to producing and exporting petrol and ultimately saving Nigeria foreign exchange.

This unprecedented stride, to my senses, would reverse Nigeria’s reliance on other countries for petroleum supply. I read it that we import about 90 percent of petroleum products we consume locally. I also read that Nigeria imported 11.3 billion dollars refined petroleum products in 2021 alone, making us the 18th largest importer of the products globally.

One can then imagine how excited I was when the news came out that the Dangote Refinery, construction of which started a decade ago and completed with $19 billion, would commence production at the end of the third quarter of 2022 and would reach full capacity in the first quarter of 2023.

I was more excited realising that hundreds of jobless Nigerian, especially our agitating youths would be employed by the 65000 barrel-per-day plant.

I was engrossed in that state of ecstasy and indeed expectant of the implementation of that promise, when suddenly I began to see an alarming sign of a danger to that prospect.

It first sounded like a joke and also appeared like a bad, protracted dream to me until I read that the date of the take-off had been shifted forward due to some logistics, particularly some grey areas needed to be cleared with the sector regulatory authorities.

I was practically down when I read a report alleging that the head of the Nigerian Mainstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) , Mr Farouk Ahmed made a complaint over the quality of products from the refinery.

The CEO was reported to have complained that the diesel produced by the refinery contains a very large amount of sulphur content which, according to him, is harmful to vehicle engine, hence the continuous reliance on imported products with its predictable consequence on the young refinery.

At this juncture, I am stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea. However, as a royal father, who must not be fair only but must also be seen to be fair, I have the responsibility to call on the government to aid the nationalist objective for which the refinery was built.

Nigeria, our great nation, emerging as the highest private petroleum exporter in Africa, is not a status and prestige we should throw out of the window. I, therefore, crave the understanding of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on this, for the feat will certainly add to the profile of his administration as that through which Nigeria attained that enviable height among the comity of nations.

This administration can not afford to be seen as putting before prospective investors, unfriendly policies to discourage them from looking to the direction of the country for enterprises that could create jobs for the yawning youths.

President and Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, in his part, should be more open to further dialogue with the government through the NMDPRA in order to save his dream project this seemingly impasse.

There is no doubting the fact that a number of Nigerians at home and in the diaspora, have attached Aliko Dangote’s name to monopoly of our nation’s economy, allegedly using his proximity with successive admnistrations to sustain his dominance of the economy evidently with his multi-sectoral investments, for instance, in cement, sugar and salt.

I think with his current experience over this multibillion-dollar refinery, it is high time he reviewed that identity by complying with the demands of the government if only for the sake of national interest.

To my understanding of elementary finance, it makes no economic sense for an investor of that magnitude to be operating below his investment capacity level as the refinery is unfortunately experiencing to the disappointment and indeed pains of those of us who had seen a bigger picture of the project that, we had hoped and still are of the belief, would end the perennial fuel crisis the nation has endured for about 50 years.

Owing to the current fuel challenges being faced in major cities of the country, we are impatiently looking forward to the August date which the refinery is expected to supply Nigerian market. We don’t want anything that would push the date forward again.

Finally, federal government should look into the recent findings, through testing, made by members of the House of Representatives led by the Speaker, Honourable Tajudeen Abbas, disclaiming the allegation that Dangote diesel contains high sulphur levels.

To be double sure, the government can take a step further by conducting an independent investigation to ascertain the right quality of Dangote products and compare with those imported by marketers.

We should be mindful of the fact that the success or otherwise of this refinery will spill over to Dangote’s interest in revamping our moribund steel industry. We shouldn’t throw away the baby with bath water.

Mr president as father of the Nation and an undisputed patriot that we all know please safe this Refinery now as many onlookers are already insinuating the current imbroiglo to wrong political calculation on the part of Aliko, clarification of the Refinery as Major critical National Asset that must be jealously protected despite the fact that it’s privately owned is my humble opinion.

God bless the Federal Government of Nigeria. God bless our patriotic President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR.

_*-Oba Adekunle Makama Oyelude (CON) is the Olowu of Kuta, Osun State, Nigeria*_