Buhari encouraged me not to give up in building the refinery — Dangote

The President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for his support and for being a source of inspiration whenever he felt like abandoning the construction of the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals.

Dangote stated this during the inauguration of the 650,000 bpd refinery in Lagos State on Monday.

He noted that the desire to go into the petroleum sector began two decades ago, but there were setbacks.

Dangote added that Buhari’s consistent support and encouragement over the last eight years had been a source of great motivation and strength in keeping him from abandoning the refinery construction.

“Let me start with Your Excellency, Mr. President. Your sustained support and encouragement over the past eight years have been, for me personally, a source of great motivation and strength,” Dangote said.

“At times when I felt like giving up, your confidence and quiet words of assurance have made the difference. Mr President, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

The richest man in Africa also thanked the Lagos State government, starting from the era of President-elect Bola Tinubu, who governed Lagos between 1999 and 2007, until incumbent Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

He emphasised that the Lagos State government has been exceptional in its commitment to and support of the private sector.

Dangote also noted that the state government has demonstrated commitment to promoting an investment-friendly climate, which made it possible for the Dangote Group to invest over $30 billion in various industries in the state economy over that period.

“I would like to express our deep appreciation and gratitude to the Lagos State government and its successive governors for the resolute facilitation of this enabling business environment,” he stated

According to him, the first product of the newly commissioned refinery will be on the market before the end of July or the beginning of August this year.

“Beyond today’s ceremony, our first goal is to ramp up production of the various products to ensure that within this year, we’re able to fully satisfy our nation’s demand for higher quality products,” he added.
He added that the achievement is to enable Nigeria to end what he calls the “tragedy of import dependency” and to stop toxic, substandard petroleum products from being dumped in the Nigerian market “once and for all.”

“Beyond this, we intend to ensure that our plants are run at the highest capacity of utilisation and the highest efficiency to enable us to export competitively to other markets, especially in the ECOWAS and wider regions, in which 53 countries out of 55 are dependent on imports to meet their petroleum product demand,” he noted.