Wale Tinubu, Chief Executive Officer of Oando Plc, leading oil and gas downstream sector operators recently led his company’s management on a guided tour of the multi-billion dollars 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos.

Describing the project as an inspiration to private sector operators in the country, Tinubu expressed excitement at the share humongous size of the refinery.

“With what I have seen, this Dangote Refinery is for Nigeria and Africa,” he stressed, noting that the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote deserved all the commendations in the world for the courage to build the world’s largest single train refinery in one of the most challenging business environment in the world even as the risk premium being at the highest.

Tinubu said there was no doubt that the refinery, when completed, will meet the yearnings of Nigerian for product availability and ultimately de-risk the petroleum sector. 

Expressing a sense of pride at witnessing such feat in the history of Nigeria, he described the project as “more than just a refinery. It is a revolution, it is about what is possible in Africa by an African, we are talking about a world class project being done a scale that the world is not used to.

“This is happening in an extremely challenging environment in which all of the infrastructure had to be built from the scratch with the attendant huge additional cost, the cost of capital being high, and the risk premium being highest and done with such spectacular precision. I think the world is not going to see many of these sort of projects. I call it the eighth wonder of my own time.

“It is inspirational and Alhaji Dangote deserves all the accolades. This project is of strategic importance to the nation and the continent. Nigeria has no functional refinery, and it has 200m people that consume 40m litres a day.

“There is nowhere in the world where you have a raw material for something and you do not beneficiate the product to a point where you can consume it in your country.  We have been a complete and utter failure when it comes to that and it is taking a private individual to reverse that trend.

“It is an epoch for the country. I think what we should do is to encourage him to complete it. Success for him is a success for the country.”

In his remark, Aliko Dangote stated that the refinery is not only a project for Dangote, but also a project for Nigeria.”

Continuing, he said “Nigeria should be a leader in building facilities like these, as a business initiative. This project will definitely put Nigeria on the map, and surely change the fortunes of Africa.”

He further disclosed that Dangote, besides building world class projects is also dedicated to building capacity by resuscitating failing industries such as it did in the cement industry, adding that this has set the precedence in Nigeria.

Upon completion, the refinery will generate a huge labour force, build domestic skilled labour force, save and even earn huge foreign exchange, in addition to providing 90 megawatts of electricity through its multi-million-dollar sub-sea pipeline project.

Recall that Dangote Oil refinery recently emerged as most impactful local content company of the year for its strict adherence to the local content policy of the federal government.

The award was presented virtually at the 2021 edition of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF) with the theme: “Leveraging Opportunities & Synergies for Post Pandemic Recovery of The Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry,” held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

The NOGOF award, the company said in a statement is a confirmation of the efforts of Dangote Oil Refinery in local capacity development in the oil and gas industry.

According to the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. SimbiWabote, the 2021 NOGOF award is Local Content driven, looking at how projects to date by related organizations, using the criteria per each award category to gauge contributions to the success of Local Content Development within the oil and gas sector being monitored by NCDMB as mandated by the Local Content Act of Nigeria, 2010.