Who Wants Dangote Refinery Dead?

 By Charles Okoh

There must be something inherently wrong with us as a people. There must be a reason that has made it practically impossible for all governance models or theories that have worked elsewhere to work here. Of course, the an­swer to that is corruption. We cannot say it enough. The level of corruption in the country is such that until something drastic is done, the development of this nation would continue to remain stunted.

*Dangote 

For a while now, we have been waiting for the much-anticipated Dangote Refinery to be launched.

Our expectations and optimism were not misplaced given the har­rowing experience Nigerians have been having with exploiting our God-given resources for the benefit of the people of this country. Sadly, there is no evidence to show that this nation is endowed with such a resource as crude oil because we have never benefited as a people.

We have suffered worse fate than those countries who do not have even a drop of crude oil. Our lot is that of deprivation in the midst of plenty. Why? Corruption.

At the twilight of President Mu­hammadu Buhari’s government, the then president hurriedly com­missioned the Dangote Refinery, even though the refinery was still undergoing construction. That is to tell the extent to which we all looked forward to its completion, hoping that the long held tale of Nigeria finally owning at least one refinery will finally be accomplished.

Is it not enough shame that a na­tion as endowed as Nigeria cannot own a functional refinery? Again, the reason for this is corruption.

Since I was born, the only recur­ring words I have known about the nation’s refineries is that they are constantly undergoing turn-around maintenance. Billions of naira are budgeted for these exercises but at the end of it all the refineries never get to work. Yet, the federal govern­ment in partnership with IOCs are happy with the status quo and would do nothing about it.

The federal government would in collaboration with these IOCs deny their citizens the benefit of enjoying our God-given resources. Every year, these men and women go to Jerusa­lem and Mecca to stone the devil when the real devil is here with us.

First, let me state unequivocally that Alhaji Aliko Dangote is not my ideal businessman and I have not admired or liked his kill-all-compe­tition approach to business.

I have never liked the fact that he would rather patronise or support foreign interests over local ones. For instance, Dangote has never hidden his love to purchase Arsenal Football Club in future, but I cannot recall him even buying a pair of jerseys to support any local club, let alone own­ing one like the late M. K. O. Abiola of blessed memory.

Dangote Cements and other prod­ucts are mostly used in Nigeria, but his adverts are permanently on CNN and foreign media. But in Nigeria, it is easier for the camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for local media to get patronage from Dangote. That cannot be the way to grow made-in-Nigeria.

That said, I am completely and totally in support of his audacious refinery project and everything must be done to make it work, even if it means sacking all those who have conspired to leave this country lame in the oil and gas industry.

Recently, the Vice President, Oil and Gas, at Dangote Industries Lim­ited, Devakumar Edwin, accused International Oil Companies, IOCs, in Nigeria of doing everything to frustrate the survival of Dangote Oil Refinery and Petrochemicals.

He said the IOCs were deliber­ately and willfully frustrating the refinery’s efforts to buy local crude by jerking up high premium price above the market price, thereby forc­ing it to import crude from countries as far as the United States, with its attendant high costs.

Edwin also lamented the activi­ty of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, in granting li­cences indiscriminately to market­ers to import dirty refined products into the country.

However, the Nigerian Mid­stream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), shamefully, in its defence, exposed their obvious lack of interest and indifference to the effort at locally refining our crude oil.

The NMDPRA Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed, while speaking last Thursday, said the allegations raised by the refinery that its operations are being scuttled owing to a lack of sup­ply of crude oil by International Oil Companies (IOCs) are untrue.

He said Dangote refinery is still in the pre-commissioning stage. Ac­cording to him, the refinery has not been licensed yet.

Hear him, “We have not licensed them yet. I think they are at about 45 percent completion. So we can not rely heavily on one refinery to feed the nation because Dangote is requesting that we should suspend or stop all importation of petroleum products, especially automotive gas oil (AGO) or jet kero and direct all marketers to the refinery.”

What is untrue about the allega­tion? Is Ahmed telling us that the crude is available to Dangote locally but he would rather prefer to buy from the US, expending the same scarce foreign exchange we so bad­ly need?

For the avoidance of doubt, it is because of NMDPRA, NNPCL and their likes that this country has failed in that sector. The corruption in that sector is such that it would take a resolute and determined leadership that is completely isolat­ed from the fraud to break the evil chain.

First, what does it matter if Dan­gote is only 10 per cent completed or not? The question is, is Dangote ready to refine our crude? And if the answer is yes, then he must be given all the support he requires. We do not have to be experts in the industry to know that the cabal behind our per­manent turn-around-maintenance exercises, would do anything possi­ble to ensure that that stream of free money does not go dry.

Or how on earth can Ahmed con­vince us that it would be cheaper for Dangote to go abroad for crude than it is to get supply in this country. Are we crazy or something?

Secondly, is it because Dangote is 45 per cent completed that the IOCs and its local collaborators are denying him supply? In any ideal so­ciety Ahmed’s half-hearted defence should earn him a reprimand if not outright sack.

Ahmed talked about Dangote’s quality being inferior. In the same country where NNPC have given us all kinds of fuel in the past. Assum­ing this allegation by Ahmed is true, what has been his contribution in supporting Dangote to correct it? If he does not have an ulterior motive, why did he have to openly condemn a local effort just to please their in­ternational collaborators? These same wrong-headed administra­tors are the same ones who would accuse Nigerians of not buying locally made goods. If we refuse to patronise them, how can they then get it right?

Ahmed and his likes are the ones running this country aground, be­cause many of the IOCs they now favour get regular support from their home governments.

Again, Ahmed explained that the expectation from Dangote is not good for the nation in terms of energy se­curity and also not good for markets because of monopoly.

Can you see the level we can go to kill our own? The same monopoly they do not want Dangote to enjoy is being enjoyed by the IOCs. This is the same fate that befalls our lo­cal airlines and for which Air Peace owner, Allen Onyeama, has been crying himself hoarse. Or are our apparatchiks in the oil ministry telling us that it’s a coincidence that all local businesses are suffering the same fate as Dangote?

Pray, between Dangote and these IOCs who should enjoy monopoly. Or does Ahmed not know that when it comes to the interests of the country, the IOCs would always align to bene­fit themselves rather than us. Imag­ine Ahmed saying Dangote has not been granted a licence, what a disap­pointment. What patriotic citizens would make a statement like this and still feel fulfilled for having done a na­tion that his badly in need of home grown solutions, some good?

I would not be surprised if, even­tually, Dangote’s effort is sabotaged, because that is the way we live as a people. That is why it’s taking NN­PCL eternity to fix the Port Har­court and Kaduna refineries they have been promising for ages. It is the same reason NNPCL remains the sole importer of refined crude and its operations have remained opaque. It is the same reason that these IOCs and NNPCL cannot give the exact figures of daily explora­tion of our crude by their interna­tional conspirators. 

No sane society would allow this. Or is the monopoly currently enjoyed by the NNPCL in the interests of the nation? No, it is in the interests of a few cabal with­in that industry who have ensured that the sector remained stunted to enrich themselves. For many years, we have been importing refined products because there is no refin­ery; now we have a refinery and Dangote is importing crude oil. Is it not a shame that Nigeria cannot boast of a refinery while smaller nations do, and yet the effort of a Nigerian is being deliberately run aground. That is unacceptable and should be resisted by any patriotic Nigerian.

*Okoh is a commentator on public issues