Nigeria: Why a new refinery is vital to the nation’s economy

Nigerian public affairs analyst Sani Bala says the Dangote refinery needs to “crash the price of petrol” for its impact to be felt across the country.

He adds: “Personally, I also think we shouldn’t be solely relying on the Dangote refinery for our energy needs. What if something happens to it? We go back to drawing board. There should be another working refinery.

“Also, as an environmental activist it also concerns me the level of emissions, we’ll be seeing from this mammoth oil refining facility not forgetting the impact on those communities nearby.”

Speaking about the impact of the facility on local people, a dialogue was held to discuss concerns last year.

Youth leader Arepo Azeez says there are numerous issues, such as “vibrations” from the refinery. “We also worry over possible accidental discharges of crude oil into the waters, incidences of mishandling of equipment, which will result in the spilling of crude oil, and even refined products when the refinery fully comes on stream.”

Yet for Mr Lado back in Kano, he is really looking forward to the prospect of much cheaper petrol.

Additional reporting by Nkechi Ogbonna.