General observation on commentators and analysts in recent times; Dangote refinery et al.

There are many commentators and analysts who try to be objective and dispassionate on national issues as much as possible.

However, there are also a number of Nigerians who have a strong subconscious and even very conscious belief (not based on any objective evaluation or past experience) that the current Nigerian President DOES NOT and CAN NEVER MEAN WELL for the country! Every decision, action or pronouncement of the Government is therefore viewed from this prism as these citizens are not able to separate their disposition towards the leader from the desire to see the country thrive.

These Nigerians almost always leverage the philosophy of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” in evaluating and aligning with anyone who APPEARS to be on the other side of the Government on any issue even at the risk of coming across as inconsistent!

On Dangote Refinery for example, a number of those who ordinarily dislike Dangote and hitherto characterized him (unfairly), as a “monopolist who can only survive on government patronage”, suddenly created a perception of “Tinubu victimizing Dangote“, without considering the fact that any President would need to be careful and strategic in dismantling “entrenched interests“ in certain institutions. This is against the background of earlier decisions or even policies not yet implemented but simply being contemplated by the Government in a number of other areas that have elicited extreme reactions stretching our fault lines as a united country.

While there is a clear need to enhance the support for Dangote Refinery, it seems lost on some of our compatriots who have just developed a soft spot for former President Buhari contrary to hitherto unfavorable evaluation of his tenure (even though in fairness he laid the foundation for the Dangote Refinery), that the current President Tinubu personally presented the Naira for Crude proposal via a Presidential Memo for the approval of the Federal Executive Council as a direct intervention on the Dangote Refinery matter. Of course, the Naira for Crude arrangement still needs to be finetuned because of the benchmark to the prevailing exchange rate and international price.

Furthermore, it equally appears lost on some of our people that a significant portion of our current and future crude oil production has been encumbered as collateral for loans, MOST of which were secured under Buhari even though the current Government has stretched it further. That is not to say there wouldn’t be crude oil feedstock for Dangote Refinery or any other one even if the needs may not be fully satisfied but it is hoped that the situation would improve over time. It is in our best interest to ensure adequate feedstock and effective capacity utilization while eradicating fuel importation as soon as possible.

There is also the constant allusion to “family interests” in the Oil & Gas industry to support the narrative that this President can never mean well for the country and specifically Dangote Refinery due to his relationship with Wale Tinubu of Oando. This is unfair, mischievous and disingenuous. Even if they are related, Bola Tinubu is not the same as Wale Tinubu who has over the years proven himself through Oando as a dogged player in the Oil & Gas industry.

By the way, Dangote himself was specific about “NNPC officials” NOT Oando, Wale Tinubu or some people, owning blending plant in Malta. But in view of the subsequent slant on social media, Oando came out to strongly debunk the news about having interest in any company registered in Malta, going further to state that their investigations revealed that the purported company whose name was flying round social media did not exist in that country’s register of companies. After that strong rebuttal by Oando, no one has been able to counter with any fact!

It is an undeniable fact that Dangote Refinery commenced full operations under this Government to complete what started and reached a very advanced stage under President Buhari. Ironically, many of the current advocates labelled the project a scam when it couldn’t readily commence operations under this administration.

And generally on building and expanding local refining capacity, the revival of Government refineries appears to have a positive effect (albeit marginal at this point) on the competitive landscape with Dangote Refinery, given recent pricing decisions taken by the latter.

If the situation is properly harnessed, providing necessary support and level-playing field for both private and government-owned refineries, things should gradually get better with the citizens ultimately benefiting.

All said, Nigeria is our country and we can only wish the best for the country while constructively engaging the Government for accountability.

Bakare is a consultant and former bank chief executive.