The Nigeria Employers’Consultative Association (NECA) and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) have expressed the view that the 650,000 barrels per day capacity Dangote Refinery could be the industrial renaissance the nation urgently needed.
Ahead of its commissioning next week, the Director-General, NECA, Wale-Smatt Oyerinde, in a message to Vanguard, stated: “With the unemployment rate hovering over 40 percent, high insecurity, the low purchasing power of Nigerians and the nation facing other multi-dimensional challenges, the planned commissioning of Dangote Refinery is a succour to a nation in dire need of an industrial renaissance.
“With the petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical plant as well as the Fertilizer plant housed in Nigeria, it invariably implies that there would be no more importation of petroleum products; rather, there will be export of finished products, availability of petroleum products, thus, putting an end to long queues and scarcity of petroleum products. A significant plus of this feat would be the attraction of foreign capital investments that the country desperately needs.
‘‘In addition, it would lead to skills transfer and technology acquisition opportunities with beneficial impacts on the downstream sector.”
Congratulating Aliko Dangote ahead of the commissioning, Director General, MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, stated: “On employment, the refinery offers the highest number of employees by any private company, including 100,000 indirect employments at retail outlets; 26,716 filling stations and 129 depots in Nigeria.
Quite interestingly, the16,000 trucks for transport will create additional jobs and, in the process, the company has trained over 400 artisans selected from host communities in the areas of Masonry, Carpentry, AC Electricians, Plumbing, Welders, Iron-benders and Auto Mechanics.”