Kashim Shettima, the Vice President-elect, stated that the Dangote Refinery will help stabilize the naira and improve the lives of Nigerians.
Shettima gave this assurance on Monday during the commissioning of the refinery in Lagos.
According to him, the project debunked stereotypical negative narratives about Nigeria and Africa that are commonly depicted in Western media.
The former governor of Borno State called the inauguration “one of the greatest days in the history of the country.”
Shettima believes the project has a high chance of reducing Nigeria’s and Africa’s reliance on imported petroleum products.
He expressed hope that the project would receive widespread attention, allowing the world to begin to tell a new story about the continent.
“Africa is not all about the crisis in Sudan, Africa is not all about poverty, Africa is not all about deprivation and destitution, Africa is not all about insecurity,” Shettima said. “I hope the CNN, BBC, and Sky News of the world will be around to give maximum coverage to this function.”
He praised Nigerian entrepreneurs who have already embarked on similar projects, noting that the incoming government, led by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, will do everything in its power to scale up and maintain the pace of the refinery project.
President Muhammadu Buhari commissioned the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical Project, a subsidiary of Dangote Industries Limited owned by Aliko Dangote, earlier today (Monday).
The facility is located at Dangote Industries Free Zone, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, and is expected to process crude oil grades from Africa, Asia, and America, with a daily surplus of nearly 38 million liters of petrol, diesel, kerosene, and aviation fuel for Nigeria.
The refinery will also refine 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, converting crude oil into various petroleum products such as diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, and kerosene.
The refinery will produce gasoline and diesel of Euro-V quality, as well as jet fuel and polypropylene.
According to the company, the facility was designed to process a wide range of crudes, including many African and Middle Eastern crudes and the United States Light Tight Oil.
