Senate President Godswill Akpabio praised Aliko Dangote, chairman of Dangote Group, for completing the 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) petroleum refinery, effectively silencing critics.
Akpabio made these remarks on Saturday during a tour of the facility, describing the refinery as the “ninth wonder of the world.”
He lauded Dangote for his remarkable achievement, stating that he deserved all the accolades.
Akpabio criticized those who doubted the refinery’s completion, calling them “dream killers.”
He noted that skeptics have been proven wrong, and the project’s completion has highlighted the shortcomings of previous governments.
“They told us in Abuja that the Dangote refinery was a farce, but we have come here and seen for ourselves that the refinery is alive and running.
“Dangote has put to shame many who doubted him. They wonder how a single individual could achieve what an entire nation could not; what 240 million people could not sustain; what a continent could not do, and yet one person built a 650,000 bpd project.
“They keep wondering how one person can succeed where nations and a continent have failed. But Dangote has done it. It is highly commendable.
“We came to see the refinery because the current Senate believes in the Nigerian dream.
“We didn’t come as doubters; we came because we believe in the project. We came to rekindle the hope of Nigerians and the Nigerian can-do spirit,” he said.
The former Akwa-Ibom State Governor also highlighted that while the federal government could not make the refineries in Kaduna, Port Harcourt, and Warri functional, Dangote and his team proved it is possible to build a working refinery in Nigeria.
“The nation’s inability to refine its oil has caused significant hardship for Nigerians, leading to the Belgian government recently banning the export of dirty and condemned fuel to West African countries simply because we can’t refine our own products,” he added.
