Dangote refinery is Nigeria’s pride — former NOA boss

Former Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Alhaji Idi Farouk, has described Dangote Oil Refinery as Nigeria’s pride that must be guided against any sabotage.

Farouk, in an interview with the newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday, advised President Bola Tinubu to ensure his directive on the refinery was fully implemented.

He expressed concerns that Tinubu directed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) should sell crude oil to Dangote in Naira, yet some people in the agency decided not to fully implement the order.

“Dangote is our pride. How many people have invested that much money in Nigeria?

"In all that he does, whatever name you wish to call him, nobody has done that, putting $20 billion dollars in any project, probably even in Africa.

“Now we have this pride, and suddenly some civil servant somewhere wants to mess it up. I even had one of them having the effrontery of telling us Nigerians on television that the imported oil is better than our oil,’’ he said.

He also advised all stakeholders to join hands in ensuring that the factory survived.

He said that when the oil factory started working to its full capacity, it would save the country some dollars, and there would be availability of fuel at a cheaperpride— rate.

Farouk also called for the overhaul of the NNPCL.