On Wednesday, explosions were heard as a fire engulfed the Dangote Group refinery in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State. The cause of the fire is currently unknown.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote previously disclosed that both local and international oil interests had made numerous attempts to obstruct the establishment of the largest oil refinery in Nigeria. Dangote made these comments during an interview at the Afreximbank Annual General Meeting in Nassau, Bahamas, last Friday.
The 650,000 bpd Dangote Refinery, located in Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria, faced significant opposition during its development. Dangote revealed that he was initially unaware of the formidable power held by the oil mafias, which he described as even more influential than drug mafias.
In a separate interview with CNN’s Eleni Giokos, Dangote discussed the challenges posed by foreign financial interests. He claimed that CNN intentionally omitted these remarks in the published interview.
“They tried all sorts of tactics, but as I mentioned in our interview, I’ve been fighting all my life. It’s part of my nature,” Dangote stated during a Q&A session at the Afreximbank AGM.
Dangote elaborated on the opposition encountered, saying, “I suppose the reason we succeeded in building the refinery was that people thought we were crazy and that it wouldn’t happen. Those trying to sabotage us didn’t put much effort because they believed we would fail. I must thank our bankers for not panicking.”
He credited the success of the refinery to the support from Afreximbank, particularly President Oramah, and Herbert Wigwe of Access Bank. “President Oramah had more conviction in the project than some of my staff. When he and some board members visited the site, they became convinced it was the right path,” Dangote explained.
