The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has made a case for satisfactory feedstock (crude oil) provide to the 650,000 bpd Dangote Petroleum Refinery by the Nigerian Nationwide Petroleum Firm Restricted (NNPC). The NLC says it will additional assure fixed product availability and cut back the pump costs of petrol inside the native market.
The labour congress additionally applauded the Dangote Refinery, describing it as a transformative nationwide asset and an important step in bridging Nigeria’s gas provide hole, boosting employment, and restoring public confidence within the nation’s industrial capability.
Funmi Sessi, chairman of the NLC, Lagos State Council, who led the manager members of the NLC on a go to to the refinery and Dangote Fertiliser Restricted, lauded the importance of the Dangote Group’s investments, stating that the tasks had been already delivering tangible advantages to the Nigerian financial system.
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“Immediately, we have now seen the huge Dangote Refinery mission, in addition to the fertiliser plant. We have now additionally noticed a few of Dangote’s different investments on this axis. It’s actually huge and extremely spectacular,” stated the NLC chairperson. “I consider what we have now seen is a transparent effort to bridge the hole within the availability of important merchandise within the nation and to create job alternatives for Nigerians and others, in addition to industrialise the nation.”
The union acknowledged that following the Federal Authorities’s removing of petrol subsidies, Nigerians skilled a pointy rise within the costs of petrol, however the entrance of Dangote Petroleum Refinery into the market helped to stabilise costs.
“It wasn’t till Dangote got here into the image that we began seeing some reduction. His intervention considerably crashed the escalated costs of petrol and different refined merchandise. That’s a transparent demonstration of personal sector management,” she acknowledged.
The NLC urged the FG to prioritise the sale of crude oil to the Dangote Refinery in naira. The union argued that forcing the corporate to import crude or buy regionally in {dollars} undermines the promise of decrease gas costs for odd Nigerians.
“This nation has crude oil in abundance. So why is Dangote nonetheless being made to import crude or pay for it in arduous forex?” the NLC queried. “If the federal government is actually dedicated to lowering gas costs and supporting native refining, it should promote crude oil to Dangote in naira.”
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Devakumar Edwin, vp, Oil and Gasoline, Dangote Industries Restricted, stated the deliberate deployment of 4,000 Compressed Pure Gasoline (CNG)-powered vans to assist the distribution of refined petroleum merchandise throughout Nigeria is geared toward making certain that the advantages of home refining and the ensuing discount in gas costs are totally handed on to Nigerian shoppers.
Edwin acknowledged that the introduction of the CNG-powered fleet is a strategic step to scale back logistics prices in gas distribution — a significant factor within the closing pump value.
“The deployment of those 4,000 CNG-powered vans will assist us go down the advantages of home refining and the discount in product costs to shoppers,” Edwin stated. “The purpose is to assist logistics and make distribution extra environment friendly, to not displace any present gamers within the sector.”
He additional defined that using CNG-powered vans, along with being extra environmentally pleasant, will considerably cut back transportation bills, finally making refined merchandise extra reasonably priced for Nigerians.
Edwin additionally highlighted the broader impression of Dangote’s industrial ventures, notably in stimulating competitors and progress in key sectors of the Nigerian financial system. He cited the Dangote Sugar Refinery for instance, noting that its success paved the way in which for different firms, together with BUA Group and Nigerian Flour Mills, to put money into sugar manufacturing.
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“We’ve seen it with sugar, and we’ve seen it with cement. The success of Dangote Cement led to the emergence of gamers like BUA, Mangal, and the enlargement of Lafarge,” he stated. “In the identical approach, the success of this refinery will drive the emergence of extra personal refineries in Nigeria.”
In response to him, the Dangote Refinery is just not solely serving to to handle Nigeria’s long-standing reliance on imported refined merchandise however can be setting the tempo for a sustainable and aggressive refining trade that can profit the broader financial system.
He famous that the Dangote Group has develop into a nurturing floor for Nigerian engineers, scientists and technicians, a lot of whom have gone on to work as expatriates in numerous nations. He assured the labour leaders of the corporate’s steadfast dedication to human capital improvement, employees welfare, and the general well-being of the financial system, emphasising that Aliko Dangote is a patriotic Nigerian totally devoted to the nation’s progress.
