A faith-based human rights organization, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has applauded the cooperation and mutual understanding between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) and Dangote Refinery.
In a statement issued on Monday, 25th November, 2024, the Executive Director of MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola, described the recent development as positive, progressive and commendable.
The full statement reads:
“The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) yesterday instructed independent marketers to halt the importation of petroleum products from outside Nigeria citing the capacity of Dangote Refinery to supply the petroleum needs of the country.
“In the same vein, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) had announced earlier that over 30,000 of its members are set to purchase petrol directly from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
“Coupled with yesterday’s instruction from NNPCL that marketers should stop importing petroleum products henceforth, the recent developments are positive, progressive and commendable.
“Having monitored the relationship between the two major stakeholders in the petroleum industry (NNPCL and Dangote refinery) for several months and having observed that both of them have developed respect for each other, we have come to the conclusion that both of them should be applauded for eventually seeing the need for cooperation and mutual understanding in the interest of Nigeria.
“It only makes sense even to ordinary laymen that Dangote Refinery with a massive capacity of 650,000 barrels per day is in an ideal position to meet Nigeria’s domestic fuel needs which, as at 29th October 2024, stands at 50 million litres per day.
“The Dangote facility can produce far above local demand. This is a big plus for the country. Reuters News Agency has also confirmed that Dangote Refinery has a stockpile of 500 litres of petrol .
“The national goal of reducing, ab initio, reliance on fuel import and eventually, totally halting it in order to make fuel self-sufficiency a fait accompli has been eventually actualized in our time.
“With the recent revelation that Nigeria spends approximately N2.6 trillion monthly on fuel importation only (https://nairametrics.com/2024/06/09/nigeria-incurs-n2-6-trillion-on-fuel-imports-in-first-quarter-of-2024-up-46/), the ability of Dangote Refinery to supply all the petroleum needs of the country is a humongous blessing.
“MURIC salutes the Federal Government, the leaderships of NNPCL and Dangote refinery for making all these happen without collateral damages. In particular, NNPCL deserves special accolades for letting go and for maintaining iron-grip discipline in the petroleum industry as evidenced by the fact that prices in NNPC petrol stations are the lowest while fuel supply is most stable in them.
“The current achievement has been made possible by a combination of highly responsible professionals in NNPCL and a visionary businessman and African industrialist nulli secundus (Alhaji Aliko Dangote), a self-made and very resourceful business guru who has dedicated his life to the provision of the crucial needs of his countrymen and women.
“On the other hand, Nigeria is fortunate to have an NNPCL manned by highly experienced men who are endowed with high level integrity and unquestionable sense of patriotism.
“MURIC congratulates the Federal Government, NNPCL, the leadership and management of Dangote Refinery and every Nigerian citizen for eventually crawling out of the dark tunnel, at least in the oil sector.
“Hope is finally here. It has also been reported that Dangote Refinery has started exporting petrol to West African countries and earning dollars. What that means is that we have started generating foreign exchange. It is hoped that this will improve our forex crisis and stabilise the naira.
“But it is not yet uhuru. We urge Nigerians to adopt a positive mien about their country so that every other thing can fall in place. Attitudinal change is crucial to winning the war against low self-esteem. Let us think of Nigeria first in all our dealings.
“John Franklin Kennedy once said, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country’. Apart from several investments in other areas, Dangote gave a huge refinery to his country. Every Nigerian must see this as a challenge and ask himself or herself, ‘What is my contribution to Nigeria?’
“Before we drop the anchor, I invite Nigerians to ponder over this golden advice from the Glorious Qur’an, ‘Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change their own attitude’ (Qur’an 13:11).
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