Dangote refinery: You can delay change but you cannot stop it - Otedola tells Marketers
...hails President Tinubu’s deregulation policy for dismantling oil industry cabals
By Obasola Tunde
Nigerian billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola has issued a warning to Marketers stating that they can delay change, but you cannot stop it with the emergence of the Dangote Refinery.
Recall that the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) had accused the Dangote refinery of double standards in its export strategy, pointing out that while Dangote products find open markets abroad, the company denies Nigerian marketers access to competitive loading facilities at home. It also challenged Dangote’s criticisms of imported fuel quality, claiming the refinery itself applied for waivers to distribute high-sulphur products in breach of the Petroleum Industry Act.
On supply volumes, DAPPMAN insisted that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), not Dangote, is the custodian of consumption data. It estimated Dangote’s share of national supply at no more than 35 percent. The marketers’ body further raised safety concerns over Dangote’s planned deployment of 4,000 CNG-powered trucks, citing past accidents involving Dangote vehicles.
In a post on X on Monday, Otedola praised the commencement of operations at the Dangote Refinery, describing it as a historic leap for Nigeria’s energy independence and long-term economic future.
Otedola congratulated Aliko Dangote for his achievement, while commending President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for demonstrating the political will to fully deregulate the downstream petroleum sector an action, he said, no leader before him had been able to take.
According to him, the removal of subsidies and full deregulation has “broken the grip of entrenched interests” that had held the sector hostage for decades, creating instead a new era of transparency, healthy competition, and customer-focused service delivery. He stressed that the reforms marked a decisive break from the past, which was plagued by subsidy fraud, product diversion, smuggling, and rent-seeking.
Otedola, however, warned that despite the progress, there are still “voices clinging to the old ways” and resisting reforms. He argued that such resistance is futile, noting: “History has shown time and again: you can delay change, frustrate it, even sabotage it but you can never stop it.”
The billionaire recalled his role in restructuring the oil downstream market when he founded the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) in 2002, with the aim of breaking the dominance of major marketers and giving independent depot owners a fair platform. He said the late George Enenmoh, then Managing Director of Ascon Oil, was appointed Chairman, while he served as Vice Chairman and Sayyu Dantata as Secretary. At the time, depot ownership was, according to him, a strategic solution to critical supply gaps caused by inefficiencies in the system.
“Many of the original players have exited the scene, and those left are clinging to assets that no longer reflect today’s business realities,” Otedola noted. He revealed that he had advised some depot owners as far back as last year to sell off their depots as scrap, since Nigeria now has over four million metric tons of storage capacity, most of it idle.
He said the Dangote Refinery has changed the market landscape by ensuring local supply, eliminating dependence on imports, and making the old import-driven business model obsolete.
Speaking from his own business history, Otedola recounted how Zenon Oil, which he founded, pioneered the modern diesel business in Nigeria and grew to become the country’s largest supplier. The company had built storage depots to hold imported diesel due to inefficiencies in the market at the time. “But with Dangote’s refinery fully operational, those gaps no longer exist. We now have domestic production and local supply that is efficient, reliable, and proudly Nigerian,” he stated.
He also underscored the positive impact of the refinery on Lagos port logistics, stressing that the perennial gridlock around Ibafon, Tin Can Island, and Apapa caused by fuel tanker congestion would now be eliminated.
More than just fuel production, Otedola highlighted Dangote’s investment in logistics, disclosing that he has purchased 8,000 brand new CNG-powered, eco-friendly trucks to distribute products nationwide. He said these would reduce pollution and breakdowns, unlike the “rickety, aging trucks” still used by some operators.
Otedola reminded Nigerians of his long experience in the business, recalling that in 2005, at the peak of his diesel supply operations, he was conferred with the title of Life Patron of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) union by Comrade Joseph Akinlaja. “So, when I say the game has changed, I speak from deep experience,” he asserted.