Professional forum lauds Dangote Refinery projects

Temitope Adebayo

The Kano Professionals Forum, who visited the humongous installations currently going on at the 650,000bpd capacity Dangote Petroleum refinery and petrochemical projects sites described the investments as huge and mind-boggling.

The Forum is a congregation of men who have attained the peak of their various professional callings and have dedicated their experience to helping society.

Leader of the team, Mr Munzali Jibril, a Professor Emeritus, who spoke on behalf of the Forum members said: “The Dangote Refinery and Fertilizer Project is incredible. It’s unbelievable. The scale of the two projects is simply mind-boggling.

“It is consistent with what we know about the vision of this company. It is always aspiring to do the biggest in the world, and not to be complacent, once the target is achieved then they set a new target.”

Mr Jibril added: “As a people who come from the same state as Alhaji Aliko Dangote, we are very proud of his vision, of his achievements and the way he has been growing the company from strength to strength. We can only pray for more of the divine grace that has seen him this far to be bestowed upon him.”

Speaking on how the refinery and petrochemical projects will help the Nigerian economy, he said: “Once the refinery project is completed, for instance, it will be more than twice greater than the entire installed capacity of all the existing refineries in the country.

“It really makes you think that if an individual can do this, what have our leaders been doing? It is also gratifying to note that all our domestic needs will be met by this factory and that there will be excess capacity which will be exported and foreign exchange will be earned.

“This is an amazing achievement. It’s a sign that if we have visionary leaders of the caliber of Aliko Dangote, this country would have been somewhere else, and not where it is.”

He said his Forum is desirous of partnering the Dangote Industries Ltd in the area of mentoring of young professionals, adding that the refinery can provide a platform for mentoring activities.

Speaking, President/Chief Executive of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote said though the projects have been very challenging, he would not however, rest on his laurels.

Dangote described the private sector as key to unlocking the Nigerian economy and her potentials and that he would continue to his best for his country.

Speaking while conducting the team round the project, Group Executive Director, Strategy, Capital Projects and Portfolio Development, Mr. Devakumar Edwin alluded to the humongous size of the project, disclosing that the entire project site was about seven times the size of the entire Victoria Island in Lagos.

While the 650,000 bpd refinery capacity makes it the largest single-train in the world, he said the fertilizer segment is world’s second largest fertilizer plant and thousands of jobs will be created when completed.

Mr Edwin said with 177 tanks, the refinery has a storage capacity of 4.7 billion litres, adding 2,570 different types of equipment are being utilized in the construction work, while 1,029 trucks and tippers are working on a daily basis.

“The refinery has a 53per cent capacity of producing Gasoline alone (PMS), which is in high demand, unlike Nigeria’s current combined total, which stood at 22per cent”, he said.