AfriPulse
Nigeria’s long-standing struggle to refine its own crude oil—and the economic vulnerabilities that accompany dependence on imported petroleum—came under rigorous examination on Sunday as analysts praised the Dangote Refinery for representing a historic pivot toward self-sufficiency and national economic liberation.
The conversation unfolded during the latest edition of the Toyin Falola Interviews, a widely followed intellectual forum streamed live across Facebook, YouTube, and X. The session, themed “Dangote, Oil and Power in Nigeria,” convened an assembly of respected scholars, governance experts, and labour rights advocates. Among them were Professors Victor Oguejiofor Okafor, Mobolaji Ebenezer Aluko, Ehiedu Goodluck Iweriebor, Jibrin Ibrahim, governance scholar John Onyeukwu, and labour veteran Comrade Owei Lakemfa.
Opening the debate, eminent historian and convener, Professor Toyin Falola, located the Dangote Refinery within the broader history of Nigeria’s industrial failures and missed opportunities.
“This refinery,” Falola said, “is a historic intervention in Nigeria’s industrial destiny. It disrupts a tragic pattern in which a major oil-producing nation relies on others to refine the very resource that sustains its economy. For decades, structural dependence has been our reality; this project challenges that legacy.”
Falola noted that the refinery forces Nigerians to confront long-ignored questions: why successive administrations failed to maintain public refineries, why the nation bleeds billions in fuel importation, and why critical infrastructure often requires private intervention.
Professor Ehiedu Goodluck Iweriebor, a historian of modern Africa, provided sweeping historical context, situating the refinery within the continent’s pursuit of economic autonomy.
“Since 1974, Africa — and especially Nigeria — has been trapped in a fuel quagmire,” he argued. “Dangote’s entry into refining is a liberation mechanism, not only in economic terms but in historical terms. It marks a determined effort to end a cycle of dependency that has crippled African development.”
He explained that domestic refining will conserve billions in foreign exchange, reduce pressure on the naira, and create economic linkages in transportation, manufacturing, petrochemicals, and technological innovation.
“This is an African renaissance in motion,” he said. “It is a practical expression of the continent’s long-standing desire to control its resources and dictate its economic fate.”
Adding a technical perspective, Professor Mobolaji Ebenezer Aluko, a chemical engineer and former vice-chancellor, praised the refinery as a triumph of Nigerian engineering ambition.
“This refinery has shown what purposeful private investment can accomplish where public institutions have faltered repeatedly,” Aluko stated. “It stands as evidence that Nigerians possess not just vision but the technological competence to execute large-scale industrial projects.”
But he warned policymakers to refrain from deploying regulatory aggression against the refinery, which he described as still in its infancy and vulnerable to unnecessary pressure.
“When regulators meet a new industry,” he cautioned, “they must not do so with a heavy hand. Fuel and energy are strategic national assets. A refinery of this scale needs stability, not suffocation.”
He likened the refinery to “a golden goose that must not be strangled before it learns to lay.”
Governance expert John Onyeukwu broadened the conversation, arguing that the country’s chronic regulatory contradictions threaten to undermine even the best projects.
“Nigeria does not suffer from a scarcity of resources,” he remarked. “What we lack is regulatory integrity—the capacity of institutions to make decisions transparently, without political capture or corruption.”
Onyeukwu warned that weak institutions could allow dominant private actors, including Dangote, to amass unchecked market power.
“If we are not careful,” he said, “we will simply move from state capture to market capture. The answer is neither laissez-faire nor hostility; it is disciplined, consistent regulation.”
From a political-economy standpoint, Professor Jibrin Ibrahim offered a striking personal admission.
“I was a Dangote hater,” he confessed, “because I thought our democracy was already tilted towards powerful private interests. But looking at this refinery, I see a national asset that must not be sabotaged.”
However, he maintained that support for the refinery must not translate into giving it undue privilege or overlooking violations.
“Let us support the refinery wi
Source: TribuneOnlineNG | Read the Full Story…
