The world was at Lekki in Lagos State last Monday to witness the inauguration of the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery, the biggest petroleum refinery in the world.
It is estimated that the plant would boost the economy of Lagos State by generating thousands of jobs, downstream investments and taxes n Lagos. It would also attract multi-billion dollar foreign direct investments to Lagos and further enhance the economy in that corridor of the Gulf of Guinea.
The refinery, according to the Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) in Rivers State, Dr. Joseph Obele, will stabilise petroleum distribution with its multiplier benefits on businesses that depend on the products. “The era of consistent scarcity. The product will be available. There will be surplus of products in Nigeria and that issue of once in a while scarcity will be a thing of the past,” Obele told National Point.
While Lagos is celebrating the birthing of Dangote Refinery, stakeholders in the Niger Delta, which produces the crude oil in Nigeria are lamenting the loss of the multi-billion dollar investment to a non-oil producing corridor. This feeling is expressed against the backdrop that most of the crude oil that will be needed by Dangote Refinery will be pumped directly from the Niger Delta through a dedicated pipeline.
Mr. Ibifiri Bob-Manuel, the President of Rivers