Within the months and years forward, Nigerians and Africans would have a alternative of shopping for refined petroleum merchandise produced on our soil. In North and West Africa, solely Libya and Algeria have functioning refineries. Nigeria, previously 20 years, has expended monumental assets in making an attempt to revive its 4 comatose refineries. In the previous couple of years, Aliko Dangote and his group have lastly constructed the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical Advanced; the most important industrial venture in Africa and one of many largest on the earth. The price is $20 billion .
Within the chaos of decisions going through our nation and our continent, we might see the longer term rising with reassuring actuality. In our land, simply jutting into the Atlantic Ocean on the shore of Lagos State, sits the brand new Dangote Refinery.
It’s important to behold the complicated to understand the enormity of Aliko Dangote, the visioner of this venture, whose dedication and grit has secured for us a beachhead within the trendy world of expertise and manufacturing.
When the Port Harcourt Refinery; the primary in Nigeria, was accomplished in 1965, Dangote was an eight-year-old boy making an attempt to find his means into the longer term. Now 59 years later, his intervention has secured a spot for our nation in that future.
The Dangote Refinery occupies an property of greater than 2,635 hectares; far greater than many Nigerian cities. The complicated produces fertiliser, diesel, premium motor spirit, aviation gasoline and different petroleum merchandise. It’s the most trendy and largest refinery complicated on the earth. It’s mindboggling in scope and actually gargantuan.
The implications of the Dangote Refinery are many. Nigeria was spending a median of $3 billion yearly to subsidise imported refined petroleum merchandise; the most important single strain on our overseas trade. Mockingly, oil can also be the most important earner of overseas trade. Now the chickens are coming house to roost.
The NNPC is in debt and it’s unable or unwilling to proceed the outdated regime. Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State, an economist and former Governor of the Central Financial institution, warned lately that the NNPC might now not have the capability to fund public spending.
“Since February this yr, the share of oil within the income that involves the Federal Authorities and States is zero,” he mentioned. “I noticed the desk; zero contribution from oil!” He added: “What we share now could be income from customs duties, VAT and firm tax.”
It’s clear now that Dangote is moving into the breach at the least to plug the opening of overseas trade and make provision for home gasoline provide. The refinery would create at the least 100,000 direct employments and finish our dependency on overseas refineries.
Dangote battled his technique to the highest like an earth-bound projectile defying the pressure of gravity to pierce the sky. He’s nonetheless skyward certain regardless of the relentless assault of nay-sayers and highly effective foes.
He was born in Kano in 1957, misplaced his father early, and was introduced up by his highly effective and rich maternal uncle who confirmed him the best way into the household enterprise shortly after Dangote graduated from Al-Azhar College, Cairo. With a grant of half-a-million naira, he plunged into commodity buying and selling, and with muscular singlemindedness, he quickly change into an influential businessman, dealing in sugar, cement and different importations.
At the moment, Dangote is essentially the most consequential enterprise individual in Nigeria and his firm and manufacturing considerations may very well be discovered in lots of nations together with Ghana, Togo, Zambia and Benin.
He’s the king of African cement, sugar, and now petroleum. His model may very well be present in each village in Nigeria. Now he’s wrestling with the complicated petroleum sector dominated by the leviathan NNPC, an organization owned by the Federal Authorities.
The battle just isn’t going to be gained simply and it’s proving to be essentially the most protracted Dangote has ever encountered. In 2007 he and his buddy, Femi Otedola, one other legendary risk-taker, purchased the Port-Harcourt Refinery through the closing months of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure. Obasanjo’s anointed successor, President Umar Musa Yar’Adua, voided the deal.
Otedola moved on to different ventures. Dangote remained attentive to the Refinery siren. It lured him to Ondo State the place Governor Olusegun Agagu, a geologist, had earlier earmarked a free-trade zone within the coastal space of the state. President Obasanjo, earlier than he left workplace, was within the venture and he acquired the Federal Authorities concerned and the free-trade zone was prolonged to Ogun State.
Obasanjo, Agagu and Governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State quickly left energy and new gamers inherited the venture in Ondo and Ogun states. Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola of Lagos State, when he knew concerning the sophisticated video games moving into Ondo and Ogun States, invited Dangote to Lagos and provided him a deal.
Dangote paid $100 million to get entry to the land abutting the ocean, waterlogged, swampy and silent just like the abode of the deities. Now the refinery is roaring there just like the market of one million gnomes. These denizens who’re in control of the 4 abiku refineries of the NNPC are up in arms, saying the Dangote refinery is lower than par, that its merchandise are inferior, that in any case, if Dangote is serious about crude, then he ought to go to the worldwide market.
The lady who has didn’t prepare dinner soup for her husband is accusing her rival of cooking a non-delicious soup! Those that are in control of 4 refineries are accusing the person who has solely one among monopolistic tendencies!
Dangote’s new battle just isn’t going to finish in a rush. His opponents are formidable they usually management sizeable munition. They’re used to successful their battles.
For greater than 20 years, they’ve claimed billions of {dollars} from the Federal Authorities for the turn-around upkeep of their refineries. But the refineries remained stagnant and refused to be circled. We hope that as President Bola Tinubu has directed, the Port Harcourt Refinery, can be revived from the Intensive Care Unit and ultimately, would start manufacturing.
No matter would be the final result of this titanic battle, Dangote will proceed to play an necessary function within the Nigerian financial system within the nearest future. He’s adhering to the prescription given for Nigeria’s greatness by Professor Samuel Aluko, Nigeria’s first-generation economist.
After Basic Ibrahim Babangida seized energy in 1985, he introduced into his authorities many high economists and finance specialists who imagine that the one means for Nigeria to develop was to swallow the Worldwide Financial Fund, IMF, prescribed invoice of deregulation and the Structural Adjustment Programme, SAP. Aluko disagreed.
He mentioned what we want was to provide extra of these issues through which we now have comparative benefit. Aluko mentioned if we love extra vehicles, Nigeria ought to go forward and produce extra vehicles. If we love rice, allow us to go forward and develop extra rice. Since then, we now have learnt to disregard Aluko’s sensible counsel. We import meals we might develop right here, spending billions of {dollars} yearly to convey rice from Asia, wheat from Europe and America and wine from Italy and France. We spend billions of {dollars} to import cars when we now have the capability to construct our personal. We killed our personal textile industries in order that we will herald rags from Europe, Asia and the Americas. We’re one of many main oil producing nations on the earth and but we spent greater than N7.5 trillion final yr to import petroleum merchandise.
Dangote has proven that the longer term belongs to those that imagine the Aluko prescription; construct your personal factories, develop your personal meals, manufacture your personal garments. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has already directed that the elephantine NNPC ought to play the sport the Dangote means. It should promote crude oil to the business and accumulate cost in naira.
Tinubu must be vigilant to guard the pursuits of Nigerians and make sure the stability of the home oil market. Witches don’t sleep. Final yr earlier than it handed over energy, the Buhari regime already spent N3.6 trillion on petroleum subsidy. Now the Dangote Refinery has modified the sport.
What can be the influence of the brand new state of affairs on the frequent folks? The folks anticipate President Tinubu to take full cost of the financial system and re-direct the vitality of our nation into manufacturing as an alternative of importation and consumption. Subsequently, the President ought to direct that as an alternative of importing rice from Asia, for which we spent $2.2 billion yearly (about N400 billion), we must always develop our personal rice.
We have to produce our personal vehicles, manufacture our personal cloths and drink our personal wine. With each bag of rice imported, we’re importing poverty and exporting jobs to different nations. It’s a disgrace {that a} nation of 200 million residents would must be clothed with rags imported from different nations.
The one purpose why naira proceed to fall is due to our inexplicable style for imported merchandise that may be produced in Nigeria. Now that the Chinese language have learnt learn how to develop cassava, some Nigerians would quickly be importing garri from China except the federal government takes steps to cease them.
Let the Dangote Refinery work. That might be a superb starting for the brand new Nigeria. There isn’t any different to self-reliance. President Tinubu ought to cleared the path. The answer just isn’t in China or the US. The street to a greater future is right here at house.
The journey can be powerful. However then, you can’t cross the Crimson Sea except you are ready to go away Egypt. Professor Aluko’s warning through the SAP debate nonetheless stays related right now and at all times: “You can not decree there should be yam, when you haven’t planted yam.”Babarinsa is the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Gaskia Media Ltd.
