The President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, had said that it was high time Nigeria moved to other sources of revenue generation and not rest the bulk of the revenue weight on oil, as the global focus on oil could shift “tomorrow”.
Dangote said this in a statement issued by the Group Head, Corporate Communications, Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina, in Lagos.
“We should not as a country, be comfortable with generating revenue from crude oil export alone, because tomorrow, people may not need crude oil.
“If we do not move from crude oil to something else, we will have issues as a country. This is one of the things that I took upon myself to help address,” he said.
He enjoined Nigerians in tackling the issues bedeviling the petroleum sector in the country, noting that it was not the “government’s responsibility alone”.
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He explained that through the construction of the Dangote Refinery, the firm was developing an extensive capacity that would help along with future projects in the oil and gas sector.
Dangote said, “It makes me feel terrible to see a country as big and resourceful as Nigeria with high population, importing all its petroleum products, so, we decided it is time to tackle this challenge.
“It is not government’s responsibility alone to address the challenge of petroleum products importation in Nigeria. No, we have to collaborate with the government to tackle the issue of petroleum importation.
“We are creating a lot of capacity in the country, which will be of great help for future oil projects in Nigeria, most especially, with the opening up of the oil industry through the new Petroleum Industry Act.
“It means that the country can boast of human capacity, needed in the oil and gas sector.
“Most of these Nigerians can compete anywhere in the world, in terms of electrical, welding, mechanical erection etc. We have actually created massive capacity.”
