The league of engineering bodies in Nigeria have hailed the huge scale of engineering structures at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals and Dangote Fertiliser Plant at Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State, describing the superstructure at the complex as awesome and mind-blowing; even as the company prepares for the rollout of its premium motor spirit (PMS) product, also known as petrol.

The league, comprising the National Society of Engineers (NSE), Nigerian Academy of Engineering (NAE), Association of Consulting Engineering in Nigeria (ACEN), and the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), toured the complex at the weekend, where they were received by the Vice President, Oil & Gas, Dangote Industries Limited, Mr. Devakumar Edwin.

The body of engineers also commended the President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote for hiring and nurturing highly-skilled Nigerian engineers – who were guides during the visit – and declared that engineering is alive in Nigeria, from the workforce to the construction at the Dangote Refinery complex.

During an interactive session, the 34th and first female President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Margaret Oguntala, described the facility as “mind-blowing”. She added that the refinery project from construction to employment, gives her hope and assurance that young Nigerian engineers are ready to take up the world.

“I was awed to see the state-of-the-art facility at the Dangote Refinery; what I see here today will blow the mind of any engineer; it is just like the movies. I was an intern at the Port Harcourt Refinery and I also visited the Kaduna Refinery, it is nothing compared to what I see here. The young engineer that took us around showed capacity and we are happy that you are building the future of engineers. We at the NSE are behind you, we shall take this home and let the world know that engineering is alive at the Dangote Refinery,” she added.

Speaking on behalf of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering, Prof. Azikwe Peter Onwualu also noted that the visitors have seen “something good and Nigerians need to know about it.”

Prof. Onwualu added “We are happy some of our fellows are part of your system. We would like to remind the President of the Dangote Group, Mr. Aliko Dangote, that if you are not doing something great you will not be criticised. Whatever you are doing, keep it up. If we have this kind of development across Nigeria, people won’t be talking about protests. Keep doing what you are doing and you will hear from us.”

Also, President of Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN, Prof. Sadiq Abubakar, enthused that Nigerian engineers are not inferior to their counterparts globally and the Dangote Refinery is visible proof of this. “We have known this as a fact that Nigerians are no less in engineering globally. We know our capabilities and this attests to it. What we saw today is emotional and I wonder what the motivation for this colossal investment is. We would like to encourage him for keeping the spirit of a true Nigerian.”

Reacting to questions, the Group Vice President, Oil and Gas, Mr. Edwin, demystified talks around the monopoly tag, stating that someone has to start a project before others follow.

“Nigeria was one of the largest importers of cement, then we started manufacturing cement and then we became exporters, same thing applies to sugar, salt and now fertiliser. This breakthrough opened the doors for other investors in those industries and Nigeria is better for it. 

“What motivates Mr. Dangote is his sheer interest in the Nigerian project. It is true, we are in business to make money but the question is where is the money going to? Every money Dangote is making goes back to the Nigeria economy, from cement to salt, sugar, fertiliser.”

“The business strategy of the Dangote Refinery is to minimise the energy cost and the overall cost of production; build the most environmentally friendly; maximise value addition; maximise gasoline which is in high demand with about 55 per cent of the production capacity compared to 22 per cent of the existing refineries in Nigeria; strategically located marine infrastructure for crude receipt and product evacuation; state-of-the-art technology; produce Euro V products; provide crude flexibility and create market of $21 billion per annum of Nigerian crude,” Mr. Edwin added.

While speaking to journalists, the Technical Consultant to Dangote Refinery, Engr. Babajide Soyode, said the visit of his professional colleagues, made him “very proud”. He added that “I knew the project was a hard one, but Aliko Dangote is harder. He follows up on his passion. His corporate vision is to meet the need of the people. It is the greatest honour of my life to be part of this project.”

The Dangote Refinery is poised to begin production of petrol, according to Mr. Edwin; a process which is expected to complement the current products at the refinery, stimulate local supply of the vital product to Nigerians, and save huge foreign exchange revenue for the country.