How Farouk Ahmed found himself on the wrong side of history
Dr UCHE DIALA
This was it (see video attached)..
It must be stated, contrary to Farouk’s submission, that it was not Dangote who requested that “we stop all importation of petroleum products”, that is, that essentially our petroleum products need be met domestically. It was Nigerians who demanded that. It was what Nigerians fasted, prayed and waited for. It was what Nigeria needed.
By the way, this wasn’t the first sign of hostility and negative action against the Dangote Refinery under the current administration, but it was the most visible public show of ill intent against the Dangote Refinery and it was delivered early in the life of the Refinery, and by a Nigerian public official, Farouk Ahmed, the head of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
Do not by any stretch of the imagination believe that Mr. Farouk acted alone and of his own accord. No! He couldn’t have and had no such capacity. He was just a willing tool and today, he has paid a heavy price for it. Or has he?
Do not also be deceived that that was any attempt at regulatory oversight. It wasn’t. That was pure economic sabotage delivered right at the door steps of the Aso Rock villa and no one from the Presidency denounced it. Make what you may of that.
It must be stated, contrary to Farouk’s submission, that it was not Dangote who requested that “we stop all importation of petroleum products”, that is, that essentially our petroleum products need be met domestically. It was Nigerians who demanded that. It was what Nigerians fasted, prayed and waited for. It was what Nigeria needed.
It was why Buhari gave all the possible support and encouragement to ensure that the Dangote Refinery and other private modular Refineries in Nigeria came on stream after decades of importation.
As a matter of fact, it was one of the key reasons why some of us who supported Tinubu did, hoping that he would continue from where Buhari stopped and ensure that the importation of finished petroleum products into Africa’s largest crude oil producing nation would be a thing of the past, at least that it would no longer be a major topic of discussion in Nigeria.
The reason and the demand was simple – end decades long shameful importation of refined petroleum products and in so doing save the up to 40% of FOREX expended annually on the importation of refined petroleum products, and as a direct consequence, strengthen the value of the Naira. Simple!
With the 650,000bpsd Refinery capacity of Dangote alone, any serious and patriotic administration would have done everything to ‘own’ that Refinery in a bid to ensure that those goals are met while at the same time ensuring that the Refinery does not exploit Nigerians.
Unfortunately, in our case, the only idea that the administration and this regulator could come up with, in all their intelligence, is to proactively and preemptively seek to demarket that same Refinery and put all manners of stumbling blocks before it.
The only idea this administration and the regulator have is to stand resolutely behind importation and importers, thereby making a mess of the dreams and collective goals and aspirations of Nigerians at the expense of our economy and the same energy independence they tout.
In all their touted wisdom and intelligence, their only idea of stopping a phantom Dangote Refinery ‘monopoly’ (created in their heads and mischief) is to make it compete with imported products just to serve the interest of a privileged few.
The idea to get our state owned refineries (445,000pbsd in total) working, whichever way, and to encourage more private investors to build more refineries, the way Buhari encouraged Dangote, thus creating and fostering real competition, and in so doing, grow the economy and create employment did not occur or matter to them.
Of course that was and is not their intention and interest. Their interest, when stripped down, is clearly not Nigeria and the welfare of Nigerians. Let no one be deceived.
This is much the same thing this administration has done with agriculture – leaving our farmers to compete with cheaper and heavily subsidised agricultural imports, supposedly as a way of driving down prices. What intelligent person does that? Of course, our farmers lost in the competition even before it began. They didn’t even stand a chance.
If Dangote wasn’t resolute and rugged, the case would have been the same with his refinery.
Going forward, we must intentionally strive to ensure that only patriotic individuals whose loyalties lie with Nigeria and the Nigerian people are elected to office and appointed to manage our affairs at various levels.
It is up to us.
#EyesOnTheBall
©️ Uche Diala
