Do you know Dangote needs your help?

Sometimes, the easiest thing to do is to criticize. My friend, Paul, asked me if I noticed that Alhaji Lai Mohammed now “stammers”. Paul thinks he was very eloquent during the campaigns because he was criticizing. Paul believes that now that the information minister is in a position where has to ‘’build’’, he no longer sounds convincing. I don’t totally agree with Paul, but he has a point.  In hard times like this, people tend to eulogize critics. I think the psychological reason for this is that it makes them feel good because these critics are throwing punches on their perceived tormentors. In the words of the legendary Bob Marley, it makes them feel no pain. In this article, I won’t make the mistake of criticizing Aliko just because I want to increase my profile or become popular.

As a former student of Aristotle and Karl Marx, I am sure some the views I am going to share in this article would break the hearts of my former classmates. But, I sincerely urge them to look at the broader picture. I am going to show you that it is in your own best interest that the Dangote group prospers.

Before I get into my argument, let me state here that my relationship with Dangote is the same as yours – I have never met him, I only see him on TV. Also, I do not intend to get his attention with this article. I just want to inform Nigerians on why they should support this man in order to have a prosperous country.

Now let me take you to my thesis. Last week, Aliko Dangote told Nigerians that his group would start selling dollars to the CBN in 2020. This was one of the best news I have heard from Nigeria in the last 5 years. Also, last January, Aliko told Nigerians that when his refinery is ready, Nigeria will no longer import fuels. This is good news. Dangote doesn’t only give us good news, he lectures us. He has lectured us on import substitution, diversification, backward integration, oil price and on various policies. His lectures are usually very enlightening – this is because we don’t see his thoughts as being ‘’testbook-y’’. In the subsequent paragraphs, I will argue that if this businessman doesn’t get your help, these lofty plans might not materialize.

Dangote wants to sell dollars to CBN in 2020. Do you know the implication of this? He would need to export his products aggressively in order to earn dollars. You can’t earn dollars by selling your products to Nigerians in Naira. He would also need to repatriate some of his profits from his various subsidiaries abroad to Nigeria. But, there is a problem here. One, where are the seaports to help this businessman export his products in the manner Nigerians would want? Presently, Nigeria has no deep seaport. You need deep seaports for big ships to berth. For those who understand maritime operations, the Lagos Port is not a deep seaport. How do we help him here? We need to invest massively in maritime operations in anticipation of Dangote’s vision for 2020. If we don’t have the resources, we should encourage transparent concessioning of these seaports. Nigerians will have to insist that the country declares a state of emergency on seaports. Besides, do you know that part of the reason why we sometimes have fuel scarcity is because big ships cannot berth in our local ports? Two, Nigerians will have to insist that Dangote be given the support he needs so that his companies flourish abroad.

Do you know that the major reason our foreign reserve is hemorrhaging is because of petroleum imports? I am sure you already know. Forget all these bans on school fees or on some luxury items – they are just temporary. If we fix our refineries, the excessive forex used to import fuels will be saved. Since Dangote intends to solve this problem with his 650,000 barrel of crude oil per day refinery, we should support him. I have earlier argued in one of my articles that government should make Dangote a priority in its forex allocation so that this refinery is not delayed. We expect the plant to come on stream in 2018. This plant will be a game changer. The refinery will also export its products and earn forex for Nigeria.

Now, I am going to give you the most important strategy Nigerians should copy from Dangote. Do you know that Nigeria will not have steady power supply in the next 20 years? I am not a prophet of doom, I am just telling you what me calculations told me. Nigeria needs 170,000 Mega Watts to have constant electricity. Today, engineers tell us that 1 million dollars is what you need to get one Mega Watt. Where will the money come from to get constant power? The above calculation was done with a population of 170 million. Note that the population is still growing. Do you know what the Dangote group is doing? They are building their own power plants. This is what APC should do to aid manufacturing in it’s ‘made in Nigeria campaign’. Encourage industrial villages for manufacturing companies. These villages would have constant power supply. Did you hear the President Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Dr Frank Udemba Jacobs, tell Nigerians that his members spend 9 billion Naira daily on power. Please note that it is not 9 billion Naira monthly, it is daily.  Power is the main problem in manufacturing.

On contribution to national debates, Aliko just told us, the other day, that the fall in oil price won’t spell doom for Nigeria, as some of us thought. He reminded us that we survived when oil was sold at $9 in 1998. The tycoon was right. Oil might not be our problem and we must use this opportunity to diversify. We should not be carried away that the oil price is rebounding. Nigerians should encourage Dangote to give more public lectures.

I am sure you know that if anything happens to the Dangote group, Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) is doomed. Dangote ‘owns’ 43% of the NSE. I can’t imagine a country without a stock exchange. We just need to preserve this man. Period.

There are other industrialists that need our help such as Tony Elumelu and Alhaji Abdul Samad Rabiu of BUA – the list is endless.