The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has condemned attempts by some vested interests to undermine the Dangote Refinery, a landmark project by the Dangote Group owned by Alhaji Aliko Dangote. 
 
NEF also highlighted the refinery’s potential to transform Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, providing much needed refining capacity and reducing the country’s reliance on imported refined products. 
 
The Convener of NEF, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, in a statement on Friday, criticised efforts to thwart the progress of what is hailed as the largest single-train refinery globally and a symbol of national pride and technological advancement.
 
He noted that the Dangote Refinery stands as a testament to Dangote’s commitment and resilience in overcoming significant challenges to build a state-of-the-art petroleum refining facility in Nigeria. 
 
Abdullahi said: “Dangote refinery, which is reputed to be the biggest single-train refinery in the world, is a technological marble that showcases the most advanced innovation in the trade field and also the symbol of our national pride.
 
“This remarkable business feat, which ordinarily should instantly earn him national encomiums and accolades, has paradoxically ignited the malicious fury of enemies of our dear country, who are strategically located in the oil and gas sector of the economy and have been wreaking havoc over the years, through many subterfuges resulting into the crippling of our nation’s refining capacity. and the ruthless imposition of a ruinous regime of massive refined oil and other sundry products importation to the detriment of our national growth and economic global competitiveness.
 
“In this wise, the lamentable and highly troubling commentary against the Dangote Refinery, that came out from the NNPCL and its other sister regulatory body, smacks of a glaring attempt to de-market this epochal national achievement and premeditatedly derail the economy from the path of healthy growth and stability.”
 
NEF noted that for 30 years, the vested interest that runs the NNPC cartel ensured that the nation’s four refineries were rendered comatose and incapable of refining petroleum to meet Nigeria’s domestic consumption. 
 
According to the group, Nigeria became the object of global ridicule as the only OPEC member nation without refining capability and heavily dependent on mass importation of oil and other derivatives.
 
“We wish to reiterate at this stage, that, Nigerians who mostly bear the brunt of escalating cost of fuel pump prices, frequent fuel shortages and the rampant poverty and joblessness which some of these unwholesome insider and shoddy business deals clearly perpetuate, will no longer fold their patriotic arms and allow a few well entrenched powerful individuals to continue taking the economy of the nation hostage, and thus, in treacherous connivance with some foreign interests, continue to condemn our dear nation to a permanent state of shortages, social crises, economic and industrial underdevelopment.”
 
NEF praised the intervention of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Heineken Lokpobiri, in addressing the situation.  The forum further reaffirmed its support for Dangote, emphasising the importance of defending the refinery as a significant step towards national prosperity and economic stability.