By God’spower Ede, Lafia
When the Dangote refinery and petrochemical company was inaugurated in late May 2023 by the former President Muhammadu Buhari, there were high hopes and expectations that the decade’s long scarcity of petroleum products will come to an end in Nigeria.
The six hundred and fifty thousand barrels per day capacity refinery was the first private oil company in Nigeria and the largest single train Refinery in the world.
It was estimated that by the time the twenty billion dollars Refinery’s products hits the market, sixty percent of the products will be used to address local consumption needs of Nigerians while forty percent will go for export.
This was meant to largely address recurring cases of fuel scarcity and eventually force down prices of the products, regardless of the removal of its subsidy by the Federal Government.
However, the recent turn of event trailing it’s smooth operation has become has become obvious that the expectations of many Nigerians may have to be put on hold for a little longer.
First, it was the management of the Dangote refinery that was shifting the goal posts concerning the take off in production shortly after the historic inauguration, thus raising lots of questions about their seriousness and readiness for the business.
One year after, the Company began production with the refining of AGO otherwise known as diesel and Jet 1 oil while the much anticipated production of premium motor spirits popularly known as fuel that serves the daily needs of most Nigerians is still being awaited.
Similarly, the company had earlier this year raised alarm that it could not source local crude oil in Nigeria because of perceived sabotage hence it was to import crude oil from Brazil to scale up its production.
Another complain also was that the International Oil Companies IOC are frustrating the smooth take off of the Refinery by blocking access to crude for its operations.
These were in addition to the recent fire outbreak that engulfed a section of the Refinery in June 2024, causing substantial damage to some of the essential components of the company, even though the inferno was swiftly contained from escalating.
Therefore, after much back and forth by the Dangote refinery comes another setback from the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited NNPCL.
A subsidiary of the NNPCL, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) through its chief Executive Officer, Farouk Ahmed during a routine supervision of the facility in Lagos, claimed that diesel from the Dangote plant is inferior and has not been licensed to operate.
The allegation which has been confirmed to be false is unfortunately coming from the NNPCL that has practically failed to maintain four of the nation’s Refineries in Port-Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna, thus plunging Nigerians into over two decades of embarrassing fuel scarcity and hardships.
It is obvious that the attack on the Dangote refinery is purely out of envy because when fully operational, the new refinery may end their inglorious years of fuel importation for which they are major beneficiaries.
The cartels in the industry within and outside the country may not be exonerated from fueling the crisis behind the scene with a view to frustrating the Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote from venturing into the lucrative business so that they can continue to have their way.
The good news however is the swift intervention by members of the 10th national Assembly which appears to have drawn the attention of the federal government to the crisis.
Consequently, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in a significant policy change directed the NNPCL to supply crude oil to Dangote Refinery in Naira to stabilize the pump price of refined fuel and manage the dollar-naira exchange rates in the country.
To this end, Government should equally ensure granting of more licenses to individuals and organizations with interest in the oil business, establish new refineries across the country to guarantee products availability and stability to stimulate the economy.
This will no doubt engender healthy competition in the sector, by ending monopoly by the industry players and force down oil prices for the good of all Nigerians.
The measures will also serve as a game changer that will impact positively on the current high exchange rates and ultimately bring down the high cost of living in Nigeria.
The time to fix Nigeria by patronizing made in Nigeria products is now.
God’spower Ede is a senior Editor with Nasarawa Broadcasting Service, Nbs, Lafia.