Nigerians have reacted negatively to the Dangote refinery’s announcement that it will no longer be able to distribute premium motor spirit onto the market this month.
During a Sunday tour of the plant with Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu, the president of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, informed reporters that the refinery’s 650,000 barrels per day of gasoline will run out in July.
Dangote stated that the goods would be available by July 10 to 15 and that this was because of a few small issues.
“We had a bit of delay, but PMS will start coming out by 10 to 15July. But then we want to keep it in the tank to make sure that it settles. So by the third week of July, we’ll be able to come out to take it into the market,” Dangote had said.
Reacting to the update from Dangote, some Nigerians held different views on what could have been the reason for the recurrent postponement. A Facebook user, Anthony Ihenyen, said it was not easy to have such a huge investment.
“You are trying, sir, and it will fly. We need more people like you to do more here in Nigeria, not abroad. Nobody is a saint.
On his part, Emmanuel Ose expressed concern, saying “Anything that will make an average Nigerian happy is always a problem to get in Nigeria”.
Another commenter, Adeola Orukotan, said, “When you know your refinery isn’t ready, why rush to declare it open? Now it’s over one year with story upon story.”
An X user, @ajagunsegun, stated, “Nigerians were told that the Dangote refinery was due for operation when it was commissioned by Buhari in May 2023, but up until now, we’re still waiting. Well, Dangote has the right to run his private business however he wishes. But what about the four Nigerian refineries? When President Tinubu came into power, he promised that the Port Harcourt refinery would begin operation by December last year; this is June 2024, and we’re still waiting. Sincerely, there’s no way you’ll reside in Nigeria without developing the tendency to lie. There are too many lies and government propaganda everywhere.
But Michael Chibuzo remarked that a refinery is not a “barbecue business.” “It is complex. You have to pass a lot of tests and carry out many test runs. Commercial production is always the last stage of the entire process. Let’s be patient,” Chibuzo advised.
@Selomsarl stated, “Thank you for the update, Mr. Dangote. We appreciate your commitment to ensuring the quality of the gasoline before releasing it into the market. Your dedication to producing high-quality products is commendable. Questions, sir: How will the new refinery’s production affect the current fuel scarcity in the country? Will the gasoline produced by the refinery be subsidised, or will it be sold at the current market price? How will the distribution of the gasoline be handled to ensure it reaches all states and regions equally?”
In all of these, a netizen, Stanley Omoyemi, submitted, “We are waiting patiently.” Dangote disclosed last month that it would begin the sale of PMS in June, saying his refinery would end the importation of petrol into Nigeria.
Speaking at the recent Africa CEO Forum Annual Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, Dangote expressed optimism about transforming Africa’s energy landscape.
“Right now, Nigeria has no cause to import anything apart from gasoline and by sometime in June, within the next four or five weeks, Nigeria shouldn’t import anything like gasoline; not one drop of a litre,” he declared
“We have enough gasoline to give to at least the entire West Africa, and diesel to give to West Africa and Central Africa. We have enough aviation fuel to supply the entire continent and also export some to Brazil and Mexico.
“We have started producing jet fuel, we are producing diesel, and by next month, we’ll be producing gasoline. What that will do, it will be able to take most African crude,” Dangote told the panel.
The words of Dangote appeared to have come as a soothing balm to marketers and Nigerians who are hopeful that the Dangote would crash the price of petrol from around N700 to N500 or below.
