Presidential monologue – Part 30

The theme of my conversation is the Dangote Refinery impasse.  The bourgeoisie, namely, the dominant class with control over the means of production, employer of labour, with control over the state machinery, have one goal. It is principally the maximisation of profit, its golden rule, warranting the disputation over whether it has a soul.

Given the transition from colonialism to state’s independence, or post-colonial being, it is possible to identify two strands of the bourgeois class, namely, the indigenous bourgeoisie (national Bourgeoisie) and the metropolitan bourgeoisie—the relationship between the two lies in the exploitation of the post-colony.

Disputes often arise over the exercise of control by the metropolitan bourgeoisie’ penchant for repatriation of capital. The national bourgeoisie usually defend their interest in the accumulation continuum against external meddlesomeness.

The state, in its relative autonomy, sometimes acts in the interest of the local bourgeois class. Unfortunately, the governance elite, the stratum of the ruling class, the latter substantiated by its control of the means of production including cultural production, and the state apparatuses including the bureaucracy and the military is a clique in the Nigerian sense. 

A class is always conscious of its interest and takes steps to defend that interest. The Nigerian ruling clique is so self-centred that it often ignores those things that will enhance its legitimacy in the eyes of the general public.

Mr President, the attempt to undermine Dangote Refinery and ensure the continuation of the cabalisation of the oil sector and the perpetuation of an import regime on petroleum products in Nigeria, dramatises the above description of the nature of the ruling class in Nigeria.  

The allegation of the Dangote refinery management levelled against the international oil companies (IOCs) operating in Nigeria is weighty. It is to the extent that the IOCs preferred to sell crude oil exploited in Nigeria to Asian countries instead of selling to the indigenous refinery in violation of the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

When inclined to sell, the offer is usually at a price, over and above the official price set by Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

Ironically, and in a blatant display of a lack of patriotism, the local bureaucracies in the oil sector have come out somewhat in defence of the IOCs. Truly, NUPRC has acted in defence of the IOCs by underscoring the willing–buyer and Willing-seller clause engrossed in PIA.

Equally, Farouk Ahmed, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) even alleged that the Dangote Refinery has yet to be commissioned and had no licence to go into full operation.

Worse still, he claimed that the output from the refinery was of low quality, especially the sulphur content of Automated Gas Oil (AGO). Also, it claimed that Dangote requested the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to purchase its products instead of importing them into the country over which the organisation has been criticised for being monopolistic.

Mr Aliko Dangote has shot back and alleged that some of the elements in NNPCL have a blending plant, somewhere in Malta where they bring into the country poor quality products. Thus, it is easy to read between the lines and to begin to put two and two together regarding the dynamics of the cabal and opaqueness in the oil sector.

Mr president you would recall that when you made the ill-advised statement on the occasion of your inauguration to the effect that “oil subsidy is gone”, the only plausible reason you could advance was that the Dangote Refinery would soon commence production and would absorb the predictable hike in the prices of petroleum products in the country.

A year later, your administration has not fixed Nigeria’s ailing refineries. The merit of having a Dangote refinery with a refining capacity of 650, 000 barrels per day (PBD) and easily the world’s largest single-train facility is immeasurable. This ought to be a national pride, and elsewhere, would be defended by the ruling class, except the Nigerian ruling clique.

The African Development Bank Group President, Akinwumi Adesina, had adverted to the bad publicity ensuing from the controversy while elucidating on the monopoly claim.

According to a statement credited to him, “Monopoly often exists where there are high barriers to entry or high capital costs. How many individuals or companies can do railways? How many can do refineries of the scale of Dangote Refineries? In a nation that has been importing refined petroleum products for several decades, the abnormal simply becomes normal”.

Mr President, you have done well by your intervention through the executive order to the effect that NNPLC should make available crude to the Dangote refinery from the pool of 450, 000 barrels earmarked for domestic consumption. This is a most patriotic move, notwithstanding the damage already done to the effect of warding off prospective investors in the Nigerian economy.

It should not be tainted by falsehood. I do hope you are aware of the information that most of our crude production has been mortgaged upfront to upset some credit facilities or what experts call ‘forward sales’ and long-term contracts in the oil sector.

Apart from this, the country’s supply of crude oil is constrained by production sharing which leaves the country with little to supply for domestic refining.

Therefore, it is suggested that the Dangote refinery needs to explore the option of being given an oil field to drill to feed its refinery.

Mr President, in this situation reality is important so that you make the right intervention. I shall address the ongoing #EndBadGovernanceprotest next Monday.