LAGOS, Nigeria – The long-anticipated promise of ending Nigeria’s incessant fuel scarcity and price hikes through the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals has hit a snag.
Comrade Festus Osifo, President of the Trade Union Congress, TUC, cast doubts on the possibility of the refinery reaching even 50 percent production by year’s end.
Once celebrated as a beacon of hope for self-sufficiency in refined products and a surplus for export, the Dangote Refinery has come under scrutiny as its targeted production deadlines loom.
Owner Aliko Dangote had enthusiastically proclaimed that the first product “will be in the market before the end of July, beginning of August this year.”
This statement stood in line with former President Buhari’s praise for the facility as a path towards national self-reliance in oil products.
However, Comrade Osifo on Wednesday, August 2, 2023, dampened expectations, saying, “As of now, they may have their own mechanism, because it is 80 percent privately owned that we may not know. But from our external view, we don’t think that it will come into even up to 50 percent production before the end of the year.”
He further elaborated that even if the Dangote Refinery were working up to 60 percent in-store capacity, coupled with a decrease in daily consumption from around 65-70 million litres to 40-45 million litres, “these refineries could walk.”
Osifo expressed concern over the lack of pre-commissioning stages using crude and the uncertainty of the refinery’s full capacity commencement.
“You need crude to be doing some of the pre-commissioning stages. That has not quite commenced as of today, but for the Dangote refinery, we are not quite sure whether it will come up between now and the end of the year.”
The Union leader’s comments reflect a broader sense of urgency and hope for the success of the project.
However, it also reveals an underlying anxiety about the refinery’s readiness to deliver on its promises.
The situation pressures the government and the Dangote Group to demonstrate progress and provide transparent communication about the refinery’s development and realistic timelines.
The Dangote Refinery, representing a massive private investment in Nigeria’s energy sector, is critical in reducing the nation’s dependency on imported refined products.
Delays in achieving this goal are not just a setback for the industry but have national implications for energy security and economic stability.
