By Adedapo Adesanya

The Vice-President of Dangote Industries Limited, Mr Devakumar Edwin, has claimed that the $20 billion Dangote Refinery in the Lekki area of Lagos State, Nigeria, could have cited in Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates (UAE) but the owner, Mr Aliko Dangote, decided to establish it in his home country.

He made this disclosure when a coalition of 28 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) recently visited the facility, which can refine 650,000 barrels of crude per day.

The group was set up to monitor the compliance of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to the presidential directive to sell crude oil to Dangote Refinery in Naira.

Recall that last week, President Bola Tinubu directed the NNPC to sell crude oil to the refinery and others in local currency.

He described Dangote Refinery as a value-adding facility as it would stop the exportation of Nigeria’s crude and importation of finished products and wondered why the government would be against such a vision for Nigeria.

He said the disposition of the NNPC Limited and the regulatory agencies was a clear indication that they deliberately held down the nation’s refineries so that they could continue importing petroleum products.

According to him, many African countries have minerals but do not add value to their economies because those minerals are exported raw and the finished products are imported back into the country whereas vice versa should have been the order of the day.

“This is what Dangote refinery seeks to correct, we did the same in the cement and sugar sectors where Nigeria was a leading importer of those products and with the coming of Dangote leading the backward integration programme of the government, others came into the sector and together Nigeria now exports cement to other countries.

“What we want to do in Refinery, we have done it other businesses, Nigeria used to be the biggest importer of sugar, we came in and changed the narrative. We led the backward integration scheme of the federal government, and we now produce sugar locally for domestic consumption and others have joined us. We did the same in Cement by opening up a production plant and today Nigeria exports cement to other countries.

“In a business, no one was interested in investing in, Dangote delved into it determined to ensure Nigeria no longer imports fuel, invested massively and came up with the world’s largest single train refinery.

“He said he would not take his money to Dubai or Swiss banks as others are doing, he decided to invest at home and now they are saying he wants to create a monopoly.

“We didn’t ask for any favour other than that we want to buy crude to produce, first they said there was no crude, later they said we would have to pay some dollars above the prevailing crude market price. And this is a global market where you can track crude prices anytime.

“We resorted to buying crude from Brazil and the United States. Later they said we should not be announcing the price of the products.

“Even the US, the leading proponent of a free market economy protects its local industries by imposing huge duties on imports just to protect local industries. This is a man that Saudi Aramco once approached to come and cite his refinery in Saudi Arabia, promising a steady supply of cruse.

“Abu Dhabi also invited him to do the same on their soil but he rejected insisting he would build at home, now he did that and a facility that is supposed to add value to Nigeria’s economy is being frustrated,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of the CSOs, Mr Solomon Adodo of the Rise Up for A United Nigeria said what his group had seen was a world-class facility and wondered how a regulatory agency of the government could take sides with importers of petroleum products when a local refinery is now available to bail the nation out of the forex quagmire which has made the price petroleum products to skyrocket.

He disclosed that the CSOs have concluded to petition the Presidency on the need to adopt Dangote Refinery as a national asset that should be used to liberate the country from the shackles of importation of fuel while it exports crude.

“We are ready to defend this facility with everything as civil society organizations. We are not speaking on our behalf but on behalf of all Nigerians and on behalf of our fatherland. It leaves much to be desired how an agency of government with oversight function to guide to grow such a project as this would now be disparaging same project. This is too bad.

“We have seen for ourselves and we have cleared all doubt as to the completion of this refinery and the readiness to supply all our domestic needs. We will expose them all. Anyone who is not ready to ensure Nigerians have a new lease of life must give way. Now it is a fight to finish.

“Going forward, we are going to set up a situation room to monitor the compliance of the NNPCL with the directive of Mr President that Dangote Refinery would be supplied with Crude in Naira because we know that the enemies of the people would want to adopt another strategy to sabotage the presidential directive.

Mr Adodo said that the CSOs would mount serious advocacy to make the government accede to the demands of Nigerians which is not just granting the sale of crude to Dangote Refinery in Naira but also ensuring Dangote fuel is available at petrol stations for Nigerians to buy.

The group appealed to the management of Dangote Refinery not to be discouraged but to trudge on as the group would mount a serious campaign in favour of the refinery.

“Even if it means we should protest, we will. We can’t allow this international embarrassment to stand.”

He also argued that all the claims about monopoly against Dangote Refinery were wrong.