Readers’ reactions to my publications (2)

DR Kehinde Abiola, FNIM,CMP, wrote:

RE: dangote refinery: Sandwiched between plenty and want

“I write to refer to the article of Aare Afe Babalola in his LAW &YOU column on the above subject, in the Vanguard Newspaper on August 7, 2024. I have taken keen interest on the brouhaha between Dangote Refinery and the government regulatory agencies like NIMDRA in the petroleum sector of the economy to the extent that I wrote on the Dangers of Discouraging Dangote Group’s Investments in Nigeria. By the time I read the article on the above subject, I become scared of the unimaginable level of organized corruption being perpetrated in the petroleum industry since 2016. By the information reeled out in the article, through the crude oil swap from 2016, Nigeria exchanged 450,000 barrels of crude oil per day for approximately 1.34 billion Liters of PMS and it was proved that one month swap alone gives PMS that surpasses domestic consumption in Nigeria. The billion Naira question is, what happened to the PMS for more than 11 months, which is about 92% of the PMS that could have accrued to Nigeria, that must have value of trillions of Naira, annually? We must get to the root of this.

“The columnist gave information that currently Federal Government pays N700 billion Naira on subsidy monthly, which implies the total cost of PMs they claim to import monthly is another several trillions of Naira. Wickedness at its extreme! It is now getting clearer why they are desperate to cripple Dangote Refinery. They have gone to the extent of syndicating journalists to write damaging articles against Dangote after their blatant lie that Dangote Refinery’s diesel is inferior to the ones imported, failed woefully. One of such is the report of Nigerian investigative journalist, David Hundeyin, who alleged that these saboteurs offered him money through Dialogue Earth, an international NGO that advocates environmental concerns to write damaging article about Dangote Refinery. They want to label Dangote Refinery as an environment pollutant so that it could be shut down by government. Wicked and atrocious people! It should not surprise anyone if gullible journalists in Nigeria fall for them. They might organize protests and riots against Dangote Refinery.

“Nigerians should watch the crude oil exporters and petroleum products retail outlets, closely. It is annoying that Billy Gillis-Harry, the National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria criticised Aliko Dangote during an interview with Daily Post , on the open arguments with the regulators of the oil industry and he went a head to declare authoritatively when he said “there is no way the 26 million barrels can be for Dangote Refinery alone when it has not been fully licenced…”. Is he the one in charge of sharing formula of crude oil who gives orders to NNPC? Did he think they can use the licence or no licence trap against Dangote Refinery now that the whole world knows why they hate the refinery? Like I wrote sometimes ago, “if the refinery built for eight years, commissioned in May 2023 has not been licenced in July 2024, the officers of the regulatory agencies should be querried and sanctioned for dereliction of duty …”. So, Billy Grills-Harry prefers Nigeria to continue importation of petroleum products his Association retail so that they continue to claim subsidy on differentials of cost of importation and sale? If what he said is the position of his Association, that Association should be considered a group of saboteurs who never want Nigeria to become self sufficient in petroleum oil refinery like Libya and Algeria.

“The masqurades causing the problems are coming out barefaced. Dangote is not new to doing business in Nigeria, I belief he knows when to talk and when not to. So, Billy Grills-Harry wanted Dangote to watch desperate people protecting interest of importers of petroleum products and people like him till after the collapse (God forbid) of the refinery? Has Dangote offended him by establishing a 650,000 barrels per day refinery? Success of the refinery is the best interest of Nigeria, people of goodwill in Nigeria should be at alert to safeguard Dangote Refinery, the pride of Nigeria, the pride of Africa.

“One enormous blessing that Dangote Refinery brought is the revelation of the well organised and properly covered up monumental fraud being perpetrated in the petroleum industry that transcends several administrations, particularly since 2016. By the time the fraud in the petroleum sector in Nigeria is properly investigated and documented it will enter the Guiness Book of Records as the biggest fraud in history. Well, it is commendable that the House of Representative oversight Committee took up the allegation of NIMDRA, a regulatory agency of government, that Dangote Refinery Diessel is inferior to the imported ones, confirmed it is not so and the Committee is taking further action on the matter. Senate is also doing good by its committee commissioned to investigate and address the sabotage of the oil sector in Nigeria. However, several other means should be used to investigate and address the perpetual whole sum and multidimensional fraud in the oil sector in Nigeria. A press release of NNPC that the Corporation can not sabotage Dangote Refinery because it invested billions of Naira in the refinery is a deceit. Have they not sabotaged the refineries of government in Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna? Have they not turned their own refineries to bottomless pit where trillions of Naira were sunk in the last about sixty years and Nigeria still import petroleum products? Where then is the justification that NNPC can not sabotage others, particularly a magnificent refinery, like the Dangote’s, capable of providing what they failed to provide and prevent the petroleum products importation they use to drain the economy and exploit the people?

I join Aare Afe Babalola to sing his song that “What Dangote Refinery offers is hope; it is asking for an end to oil importation; it deserves not only encouragement but the support of every Nigerian; it is the hope of every Nigerian that his efforts should not be stifled.”

Edet Godwin [email protected] wrote:

“Dear sir,

Your article today is an eye opener to us Nigerians and the need for us to ask the right questions. I had wondering why Dangote refinery is staved of crude oil when our government should be encouraging local economy. So sad to realize that our electoral system makes us susceptible to the political class manipulation every election cycle. When then can we fix the rot in NNPCL”

In his reaction to the article: ‘Dangote refinery: Suffering amidst plenty’, Kehinde Akinyemi [email protected] wrote: “Sir,

I must thank you sir,  for your highly enlightening piece on the reasons for the  inability of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited to source crude oil locally for its refinery and the call for the Nigerian electorate to start asking the right questions on how our natural resources and incomes accruing from them are utilized. It is really a shame that a country so immensely blessed with natural resources is in such indebtedness, poverty and underdevelopment. The future value of our crude oil (maybe natural gas too, in one way or the other) has already been reduced as a result of the propensity of our leaders for quick fixes (mental laziness) and inability to give deep patriotic, empathic thoughts to issues and policies that affect the country’s economic future and invariably, that of its people before taking decisions.

Ours is the story of weak mental leadership, mind boggling corruption, almost unparalleled lack of empathy and patriotism, on the part of the vast majority of people who thrust themselves on us as leaders and a refusal by the electorate to ask questions that force leadership to accountability, and also to subject key government policies to rigorous intellectual interrogation.

May God continue to bless your endeavours sir and keep you strong and healthy to bless our dear country with your wisdom and insight on various issues affecting the country.

AARE AFE BABALOLA, OFR, CON, SAN, LL.D (Lond.)

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