{COMMENT} Takeaways from the Dangote Refinery’s success
By KEMI KASUMU
Four decades after Major General Muhammadu Buhari as Federal Commissioner for Petroleum Resources established four refineries for the country, Nigeria can now beat its chest and say it is Uhuru in terms of ability to once again lay its hand on at least one modern and functional oil refinery to locally fulfill what he, as former Military Head of State (January 1, 1984 – August 25, 1985) and democratically elected President (May 29, 2015 – May 29, 2023), preached and spent his years in office to achieve that, “We must produce what we need and grow the food we eat”.
This time we are talking about ability of the country to now refine its own crude oil for local needs of its people and, export to strengthen its currency, the Naira. Although this is coming, not in the form of Buhari’s publicly funded refineries of Warri, Port Harcourt, Kaduna and the other but in the form of ownership by an active member of the Organised Private Sector, the Dangote Refinery.
What is more vital to talk about and must not be pushed under the ground unsung is the fact that the Hausa-Fulani race – often unjustly tagged by some other tribes for the insecurity and crimes bedeviling Nigeria – made the history of enabling the country achieve its own refineries in the past and is still from the same race that Alhaji Aliko Dangote, who has made it happen again forty years after, comes from.
This becomes important and mature for mentioning because it is necessary to note that whereas criminality has neither tribe nor religion, away from the wrong tagging, the Hausa-Fulani people of Nigeria must be given credit for what Buhari did in the past giving the country its pride of four refineries as testified to by his then boss and Military Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo (GCFR) in 2015, and what has just happened by the Dangote Refinery. And I join every lover of unity, peace, progress and development in congratulating all of us, detribalized patriotic Nigerians, for the achievement that, though by an individual, Dangote has made for all of us as his success is success of all Nigerians in the context of this oil refinery breakthrough.
At least, we can now take it home from here that DANGOTE HAS MADE US PROUD AS BLACK PEOPLE BY HIS SINGLE-HANDEDLY ACHIEVED PETROLEUM REFINERY that we, like anyone all over the world, can wittingly or unwittingly call ‘Made in Nigeria’ in line with the dream of the sitting President (2015-2023), Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR), who had chosen to support the growth and development of the privately owned refinery should that be the faster way to achieving the dream of such all-important subsector in a way that helps Nigeria’s currency to be well placed to complete in the international money market and put Nigerians in better stead to enjoy the natural gift of crude oil that the Lord has blessed them with.
Points to talk about
What we must also talk about is that, President Muhammadu Buhari rushed the participation, focus, attention and monitoring role he played in ensuring timely completion of Dangote Refinery for the following reasons:
One, If eventually he removed fuel subsidy he was being pushed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank although he usually refused the unholy push, there would be something to fall back upon as locally sourced fuel consumption.
Two, President Buhari also participated in encouraging some modular refineries one took off in the life of his administration in Imo State and the other was at 70% completion in Edo State handled by Governor Godwin Obaseki at huge percent of counterpart funding by his Federal Government. Some Nigerians have character and spirit of ungratefulness, which makes them forget good deeds of people but always try to promote evils against such people even there is no negative record to be promoted against them. Our attitude in this regard must change because it forms part of why we, after Buhari, had a President that we have now generally celebrated as the “best President” ever that Nigeria has produced (2023 till-date).
Three, President Buhari did not stop at that. He went, about the first time, to take a World Bank loan of $1.5 billion (One Billion Dollar) for the purpose of reactivating the Port Harcourt Refinery, at least not Kaduna Refinery so that no one would call it a Fulanisation or Islamisation Agenda of taking the oil crude from South South’s Niger Delta for refining in the North. He did that so that Nigeria could be at ease with themselves in terms of the major driver of development (energy) subsidy upon which the Western world had relentlessly pushed him to remove but which he refused.
Four, Then he left the stage on a clear note that “I am leaving behind a successor that has the capacity to continue from where I stopped”. For sentimental reasons, some Nigerians with heart deeply rooted in hate for Hausa-Fulani kicked against the idea of what they called “very bad Buhari leadership” (note that underlined words in quote). Anyway, Tinubu would come to power with his own idea and agenda as he made clear in his campaign outings (not Buhari’s) that like it or not, he would win the (2023 presidential) election and would also remove fuel subsidy and make the Naira float against foreign currencies. He said all that in a Nigerian economy that is yet to be desirous of being productive but import dependent.
Five, Tinubu took over on Monday May 29, 2023 around 12pm (ko ba akaba ni?) from President Muhammadu Buhari, who did not wait for his (Tinubu’s) speech some analysts called a ‘bombshell to drop’ before he drove out of the Eagle Square arena to the Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport from where he flew along with his good wife (Aisha) and handsome, respectful son (Yusuf) straight into the waiting mammoth crowd of his enthusiastic Katsina State people, that same afternoon of May 29, 2023.
Six, Had Buhari stayed behind, many of these tribalists accepting wrong information being spread against the personality of Buhari would have said he whispered what became the successor’s speech into his ears. But that did not happen. Tinubu fulfilled his own freely made campaign promises of fuel subsidy removal in a clearly sung reforms that, one year 5 months after, are still undergoing or being in the works with all classes of Nigerians now wallowing either in inadequacy or abject poverty. Many have therefore asked, “Where in the sensible world of developed countries do people have to die as a result of depression caused by hunger, unexplainable and indefensible hardship because it has new Sheriff in town who is so brilliant about some reforms he calls Renewed Hope?
Seven, What has become the albatross of the whole reforms confidently sounded to Nigerians on that first May 29 of Tinubu’s administration is the inability of the administration to own the consequences of the hurriedly announced fuel subsidy removal in a country where mere announcement even not backed up with documented approval is enough for people behind the economy (market men and women, fuel marketers, transporters) to effect upward cost of living to the detriment of the people.
Eight, Whereas Tinubu himself would never utter a word of his own in all the avoidable controversies, his government and Presidency aides as well as some governors of states, seeking the President’s favour, went all out saying former President Buhari stole all the money and nothing for Tinubu to run Nigeria. Up till recently, we saw how Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike and Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma said Tinubu was handed a dead Nigerian economy while others (like callers in on Berekete Radio Abuja as shown on its social media television platform) saying Buhari government’s $1.5 billion loan was a crude oil swap and that Nigeria under Tinubu has no crude let alone that he would have to sell to Dangote Refinery.
Nine, Buhari never shared up to N1 trillion Federal Allocation with states and local governments in his eight years of civilian administration. But in June, one month after taking over from him, Tinubu shared over N1 trillion and all his supporters in government and outside of it celebrated a brilliant new man in power for that. The question was then asked: Where did Tinubu get that over N1 trillion from, which his FG shared with states and local governments one month in office? After all, through his known tactics of information dissemination using proxies, he said Buhari had swapped Nigerian crude oil for foreign loan? If he did not agree with that claim, his fiery presidential media and strategy aides would have debunked the story but it was let to continue to spread until Buhari’s continued silence naturally blew those lies away like powdered effort is blown off by the winds.
Now, then 10th point, is that those saying that Buhari swapped the crude for loan did not add in their propaganda business that the $1.5 billion involved was meant for and put in the Port Harcourt Refinery revamping that (good enough) the Tinubu administration and his supporters under their tag “BATISTS” had since acknowledged was successfully completed in August 2023 three months after he took over from the former President, Muhammadu Buhari, who in actual sense owned the achievement of the Port Harcourt Refinery along with Dangote Refinery and all the modular refineries in the works along his many infrastructural, agricultural and Siemens electric power improvement feats he made before leaving office and are still germinating till date.
Also, Tinubu government did not only acknowledge completion of the Port Harcourt Refinery rehabilitation but, also, it confidently owned the achievement as it announced to Nigerians that its petrol production would commence, first, in December. When particularly The DEFENDER’s reports started pointing out how the success of Port Harcourt Refinery, being celebrated and credited to Tinubu, was actually the good results of rehabilitation by Buhari Administration’s $1.5 billion World Bank loan, their story started changing. Nigerians began to hear “Port Harcourt Refinery to start production after Christmas holidays”. When that also failed, the announcement came again, “Port Harcourt Refinery to commence petrol production first quarter of 2024″. We are already in last month of the third quarter of 2024, Port Harcourt Refinery is yet to start production and no explanation whatsoever has been given either by the same Mele Kyari that is making all the information public or Tinubu himself, who is the Minister of Petroleum of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Every Nigerian is simply left to himself. Nobody is telling anybody about what.
The $100m land claim
As Dangote Refinery started off with diesel and an agency of Tinubu government came up with excuses that it was producing substandard products even after Tinubu through a statement from his presidential media office had thanked it for crashing the price of diesel from over N1,000 to about N900, its President, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, went all out to tell some very disturbing stories as it became obvious that the agency’s allegation was not without knowledge of the nation’s President and Senior Minister who, despite having left office as Governor of Lagos State since 2007, continues to hold the political power of control in the state even as currently President of Nigeria. The Kano State-born Dangote said, against much-mouthed information that the land he used to build the refinery was given to him for free, he actually paid $100 million to Lagos State Government for the land. “It is was not for free,” he said.
De Renaissance Patriots Foundation, a socio-cultural organisation for Lagos State indigenes, has since written a letter to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, citing some sections of the law and Freedom of Information Act as it asked for explanation on the Dangote’s claim of having paid $100 million on land without the government making it known publicly as to whether not the native owners were compensated. It is on record, however, that a notable Lagos native, Tunji Disu, was killed while leading a protest for the Lagos State Government at the time to compensate his people, now being completely impoverished due to deprivations that they suffer unable to continue their only business of finishing.
Although the Sanwo-Olu State government is aware of consequences of not yielding to the FOI demand of De Renaissance Patriots or anybody after seven days, it is over 30 days (as at time of writing this this article) that the Tinubu’s politically controlled Lagos State Government has not replied the letter, let alone to answer the questions asked in it (not exactly quoting): 1. Was Alhaji Aliko Dangote just talking in mere figment of his own imagination? 2. If he was not saying the truth, these are serious allegations, why have you not issued a statement to debunk his stories or sue him for damaging your name? 3. And if it is true that he paid you $100 million, where are the records, why was there no public statement about it knowing the nature of the land taken for the refinery, through which account (government’s or private body’s) did you receive it, handled by which of the government officials and what did you do with the money as there is nothing to show in the area and for the people that they could be said to benefit?
Now, President Bola Tinubu, after the Dangote’s expositions including the ownership of Malta blending factory and hint of corruption in the oil sector, ordered that crude oil be sold to him in Naira. The DEFENDER had reported weeks after that Dangote was yet to get crude oil despite the President’s order. Soon after, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, made official statement that such supplies to Dangote and (unnamed) others would commence on September 1, 2024. That has happened with credit to the beauty of efficiently organised private sector, and Dangote rolled out very clean petrol within 24 hours of receiving the crude. It is needless to ask where the Tinubu government got the crude oil from since, in the words of its alleged proxies, Buhari had swapped Nigerian crude oil for loan.
Final note
On a final note, now in an economy where, despite fuel subsidy removal, the government still determines fuel pump price as seen in the private NNPC Limited, the question is, why was it that government’s next action – moment after Dangote’s widespread celebrated success of locally produced petrol – was to announce upward adjustment of fuel pump price by NNPCL? This was as yet to be debunked reports said Federal Government would determine price of Dangote’s petrol, much unbelievable as the story could be.
The idea of NNPCL Retail Limited buying over by OANDO now coopted into NNPCL and OVH collaboration continues to make this government a product of controversy. Dangote’s success should not be pushed or dragged into it as Nigerians deserve that fuel cannot be sourced from their national crude oil in Naira and refined locally on their own soil albeit private company and they would still not enjoy the benefits of it in terms of stable, reasonable prices and created jobs.
