I was at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, just recently. The Complex is located in the Dangote Industries Free Zone, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State.
It is futile trying to describe what I saw. Even the most descriptive essayist cannot paint a precise picture of the wondrous world that the complex can pass for.
Before I embarked on this adventure of discovery, I had a mental picture of what the Refinery was like. But I have come to realize, through actual contact, that my imagination, however fecund, could not have roamed far enough into capturing the complexities of the technological marvel. The complex is just a maze; too stupefying to be pigeonholed. Some have had to describe it as the eight wonder of the world, owing largely to the protean, almost indescribable, appurtenances that adorn the complex.
But what you can quickly put in a straight jacket is that the 650,000 barrels per day Refinery and Petrochemicals seats on an area of approximately 2,635 hectares said to be more than seven times the size of Victoria Island. It is reputed to be the world’s largest single train petroleum refinery. An industrial plant that transforms crude oil into usable petroleum products such as diesel, gasoline, jet fuel and kerosene, the Refinery was conceived, projected and programmed to be an answer to the perennial shortage of premium motor spirit in Nigeria. The completion of the Refinery marks the attainment of self-sufficiency in domestic refining of petroleum products. The excess capacity in refined products is programmed to go for the export market.
But before we stray further afield into the amazing details that come with the Refinery, let me bring forth the questions that dominated my silent musings while at the complex. How did Aliko Dangote, the President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, find this place? How did he make a landfall in this far-flung marsh nestled in the cold wetland of Ibeju-Lekki? What manner of imagination could have translated into the wonder that we have before us? To imagine that Aliko, the self-effacing industrialist, could venture into this inclement territory and covert it into an Eldorado is in itself a further reason to sink deeper into the wonder and awe that the complex radiates.
It is worthy of note that Dangote Industries which began operations in 1978 as a trading company has, over time, blossomed to become one of Africa’s largest conglomerates. As a key investor in the Nigerian economy, the Group’s interests cover a wide range of specialties such as cement, sugar, salt, fertilizer, agriculture and real estate. It also has ongoing projects in the steel sector. But the rave of the moment is the breakthrough it has recorded in the oil and gas sector of the Nigerian economy.
Then we ask again: how did Alikoke Dangote survive the difficulty of doing business in Nigeria and across Africa to the point of expanding the Dangote Group’s operations to 17 other African countries? Here, we can quickly find an answer in the essential makeup of the man, Aliko. It will be an oversimplification to say that he is focused. Perhaps, it is more apt to say that he is single-minded in his pursuit of enterprise and entrepreneurship. Success in whatever he ventures into is his life. He does not make allowances for drawbacks. Even in the construction of the over $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, he was personally involved at every stage. For him, that was the catch. Entrusting everything to other people could be a grave risk. In such a situation, someone, he reasoned, can deliberately decide to make a mistake in the construction process so as to make it impossible for the project to take off. For this reason, whatever energy he has is channeled into his investments. There is no room for half measures.
Significantly, this man of stupendous wealth reputed to be the richest man in Africa, is modest. There is no flamboyance around him. He places little value on material acquisitions. He does not own any house outside Nigeria because, according to him, such acquisitions will distract him. When you own such property, you will, from time to time, find reason to go there. He sees this as a huge distraction that he can ill afford. He stays away from any pastime that will negatively impact on his drive to create wealth.
He is, indeed, a wealth creator. He does not want to be categorized as rich. In fact, he makes a distinction between being rich and being wealthy. A rich man, he says, is interested in primitive acquisition of cash for himself and maybe his immediate family. But a wealthy man is more interested in creating wealth than anything else. When you create wealth, you empower others and improve the overall well being of society. That is wealth. That is what Aliko Dangote is focused on.
With the Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals in place, Dangote group is set to end the regime of importation of refined petroleum products. As a business man, Aliko Dangote frowns on over dependence on imports. According to him, when you import, you stultify the local economy and boost that of the exporting country. This, for him, does not make economic sense. He is now set to give Nigeria what it takes to stop looking outside its shores for refined petroleum products. The Refinery is designed to maximize gasoline production, and this will account for 53 percent of its production capacity. The Refinery stands shoulder high when compared with most other refineries across the globe whose production capacity of gasoline oscillates between 20 and 25 percent.
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery will meet 100 percent of Nigeria’s requirements of liquid fuel products and the excess will be exported to the outside world. When this happens, this will not only save Nigeria the huge foreign exchange that goes into the importation of refined petroleum products, it will equally trigger massive inflow of foreign exchange into the domestic economy.
The group has already done this in the area of cement production. Dangote Cement is Africa’s leading cement producer. With a production capacity of 29.25Mta in the home market, Dangote group exports cement to ECOWAS countries. This has effectively ended Nigeria’s dependence on imported cement and transformed the country into an exporter of cement.
Since Dangote Petroleum Refinery is an unquantifiable addition to Nigeria’s economic recovery and transformation agenda, the federal government of Nigeria has a responsibility to ensure that it does not promote or encourage policies that will stifle our home-grown manufacturing concerns such as the Refinery. In this regard, government must rein in the International Oil Companies which are believed to be plotting against the Dangote Petroleum Refinery through unwholesome business practices. For the Nigerian government, charity must begin at home in this matter.
QUOTE:
“With the Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals in place, Dangote group is set to end the regime of importation of refined petroleum products. As a business man, Aliko Dangote frowns on over dependence on imports.”
