‘Awon eniyan n wo wa la’wo sunkun, a n wo ara wa la’wo rerin; the world is looking at us with pity and disdain, we look at ourselves in amusement as if in a cinema.’ That’s how I conclude this Dangote Refinery/NNPCL matter.
When the Dangote Refinery was hurriedly launched as part of Pres. Muhammadu Buhari’s achievements before his exit last year, we all trooped out in excitement that finally we can, at least, produce enough refined petroleum products for our consumption. We heaved a sigh of relief that if our government cannot do it, one of us, citizens can do it. The project came bearing tremendous promises for our local economy and for our international prestige. We were told to wait for about a year for the project to come to fruition.
Finally, the wait is over. And we ought to begin to enjoy the potentials turning to realities and this ugly tide is here. A quasi-private government agency is throwing cogs in the wheel of progress. Dangote Refinery buys crude from as far as America when crude oil of the best quality is ‘behind its yard’.
Why does everything look like entertainment to us? We ‘catch cruise’ that he is being paid back in his own coin. We laugh at ‘the monopolist’ going around the media to talk about his ordeals. Rather than rail on those halting this smooth sail, we turn on one of Nigeria’s biggest human exports who invested so much to make this happen.
I don’t hold brief for Dangote neither do I for the government but I thought we have roundly agreed that ‘government has no business being in business’? Ain’t we angry about the years of rot in the four government-owned refineries? Ain’t we angry about the billion-dollar Ajaokuta steel rolling mill that has never produced a single-dollar-worth of steel? Would we rather that this goes down the drain, too.
Yes, we are going to pay but we will likely see what we are paying for regularly. More than the immediate LNG, petrol PMS, kerosene DPK, diesel AGO, there is immense growth awaiting our petroleum-allied industries.
What we should be doing now is to prevail on the government to release abundant crude to Dangote Refinery. For once, let us enjoy the immense benefits that God has deposited in the underbelly of Nigeria’s ground earth. ‘Okun eran o ye adie; it is not befitting for a cow’s rope to be tied around a chicken’